OT: Military Uniforms

[Guest guest]

Hi Ien,

 

> Thanks for the history lesson Butch.

 

Welcome for sure.

 

> How do you remember it all?

 

I remembered the French decision because it is one of the classic bad

decisions in military history .. every professional officer in every

country in the world is familiar with that decision.

 

> I just remembered the sentence because it was so funny, not

> the details.

 

It was a classic example of how chauvinism can get out of hand and why

civilians should not try to make tactical decisions for armed forces.

 

> As for this:

>>Freedom to say that one would like to do away with armies came from

>>armies having given one that freedom ..

>

> True, but only because there was another army there that took away

> the freedom in the first place, etc etc.

 

You know better than that. ;-) The history of mankind is not a history

that placed a lot of emphasis on human rights .. human rights were won

by MIGHT .. not by RIGHT! True it is that the idea of human rights

sprang originally from the Judeo-Christian teachings .. but it was

military power that insured them .. mankind was not born into the world

with inalienable rights .. such ideas resulted from social revolutions

that were backed by military power. Peace through superior firepower!

 

> We can dream, can't we?

 

Some folks can .. but folks like me would have failed in our missions if

we had dreamed .. we had to deal with the realities. And while we were

dealing with those realities .. we also gave folks like you the freedom

and security to be able to dream. ;-)

 

Mankind is NOT equal in all respects .. at least when comparisons are

made in an attempt to understand other societies/cultures. It would be

practicing racism to say that one culture was inferior to another since

the criteria used to make that determination would, by necessity, be

chauvinistic .. but it is foolish and irresponsible for leaders to not

pay attention to the fundamental differences between cultures. Religion

is usually a driver in this regard .. it determines man's place in the

world and in nature .. and on the value that culture places on human

life. It would be an unforgivable oversight for a leader to not take

into consideration the fact that some cultures are not as civilized as

others .. and are motivated by ideas that are more than foreign .. and

downright dangerous .. to other cultures.

 

Unless one has lived in .. been immersed in .. the cultural extremes I

speak of there is no way they can understand what I am writing here and

they will never agree with me. They will want it to be as they wish it

were rather than how it is .. and they will continue to dream.

 

The major difference between young folks and more experienced mature

folks is .. those young folks who accept that there are differences and

work to close the gaps are usually successful in life .. those who close

their eyes to the realities and try to live as if there were no inherent

differences are usually the ones who fail.

 

The major difference between inexperienced and experienced mature folks

is that the former are normally grouchy, opinionated, wrong thinking old

geezers and broads and the latter are the ones the wise young folks will

turn to for counseling and advice.

 

If wishes were horses all beggars could ride. ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com