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Thursday, November 02, 2006

What did Al say?

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who do not do anything about it"

Albert Einstein

As true today as it was the day he said it.

posted by Uncle Jim @ 4:44 PM  

4 Comments:

  • At 7:56 PM, Blogger James said…

    Ole Albert also said this: "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."

    He was a smart guy, man.

     

  • At 7:27 AM, Blogger Uncle Jim said…

    Yes this is true! If the enemy understands that we will kill them it will keep the peace.

    "Yeah thou I walk through the desert of death I will fear no evil, for I am the biggest baddest Marine in the desert."

    My platoon sgt said this the moment he put his boots in the sand,
    1990

     

  • At 11:29 PM, Blogger James said…

    In my book, he was the second biggest baddest Marine in the desert...

     

  • At 6:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Actually, while I wholly agree with the sentiment, the devotion to accuracy in me (or, as james misunderstands it, spin, whatever, etc [he's never been a fan of accuracy]) must correct the attribution...

    This phrase is commonly repeated as

    "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

    It repeated in many forms, much like the one you have cited.

    However, the sentiment is most commonly traced to Edmund Burke, who is an Irish political philosopher that died in the late 18th century. Interestingly, he never wrote that exact phrase. The closest it comes is:

    "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

    Which comes from an essay entitled "Thoughts of the Cause of the Present Discontents" published in 1770.

    Now that the anal in me has been satisfied, I will say that my favorite (mis)attribution of this sentiment is given to Winston Churchill. (This attribution is wholly innaccurate [or perhaps poorly spun?}] nevertheless, I enjoy the idea of this thought coming from that particular man.

    I see much in common between early WWII Britain and the U.S. of today. Mostly in that early WWII Britain contained a population wholly weary of war, having suffered through WWI. Yet they were faced with an ideology the represented the very antithesis of the culture's beliefs. And, were faced with no other choice that to fight. This is our commonality.

    Where it differs is that in the Britain of 1940, they were at a material disadvantage. Today, we in the U.S. are at a material advantage. In the Britain of 1940, there existed the will. Unfortunately, the material advantage of the U.S. today means jack shit as there are so few willing to make appropriate sacrifices to ensure our way of life.

    Left with that, I will say that Einstein's sentiment ""Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding" can only apply when your adversary is willing to attempt such understanding.

    I don't believe Islamic fundamentalists are willing to even try to achieve said understanding.

    Also, there are Americans amongst us who feel such visceral hatred of Christians (or fags, or whatever) who are incapable of said understanding themselves.

    We are in sad state, so I see no other choice than to fight. It is a shame.

     

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