Yeah. I just realized something. Something that really never occurred to me before. We’re going to win.
– Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Probably really Joss Whedon).
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When will the lefties figure this out in the GWOT?
Buffy jumped the shark after “The Initiative” story arc.
The Applicant,
Well, first of all, we are not at war with “terror.” That’s a bit like saying that one was at war in WWII with “tanks” or “small arms tactics.”
Furthermore, the war against Islamic terrorists is less likely to be defeated by force of arms than by culture, markets, etc.
Gary, I don’t remember whom I’m quoting “History is always repeated, but it’s more expensive each time”. Can you give me a historic example about terrorists, markets & culture?
Rachel,
I would quite forcefully argue that the end of Communism (as a viable entity with anything more than crank adherents) came about largely because of markets and culture. If something like the USSR can be taken down by capitalism then terrorism can be. If you fear that capitalism isn’t corrosive enough then I suggest you visit Dubai.
Anyway, if military intervention were the “solution” for Islam’s problems then they would have solved by the Sublime Porte or the militaries of Britain and France.
Anyway, I find it interesting that you doubt the power of capitalism.
Rachel,
I suggest that you read Charles Paul Freund’s excellent articles on the liberating nature of capitalist culture:
http://reason.com/0203/fe.cf.in.shtml
http://reason.com/0306/cr.cf.look.shtml
Gary, It’s not that I doubt the power of capitalism. On the contrary, I’m worried about what’s going on in my country, Israel. I do hope that history will repeat itself, I haven’t yet read your suggested links.
Sometimes I think the best attitude to our porblems is anthropologic or geologic, looking at things from the outside, on a very large time scale.
Rachel,
I thought that Israel was slowly moving away from socialism, etc.? Or do you mean something else?
I was thinking of the terrorist aspect, both in our country and worldwide Islam.
Yes, Israel is pulling itself out of Socialism. Now we’re at the stage of “rebooting” ourselves.
Rachel,
Ok. My fault I didn’t make the connection. 🙂
It took countries like Britain, the Netherlands, France, the U.S., hundreds of years to develop to the point that they are now as liberal societies, have largely adopted market economies, etc. (and none of them is by any means perfect – the fact that we’re arguing about things like direct sales of wine in the U.S. is indicative of this); some other countries that followed took shortcuts (e.g., Japan, Taiwan, etc.) – and I in no manner mean to suggest that there is some uniform means to get from point A to point B – but even they took decades to get there. I don’t begrudge the use of force when neccessary (and therein of course lies the rub and where we likely differ), but the use of military force will ultimately not be the solution (at least from my perspective).
That’s all well and good, I’m sure, but I think you guys are missing the point of the post: Buffy rules.
Correction: Whedon-y goodness rules!
china,
Buffy stopped ruling after the fourth season; it jumped the shark after she killed “Adam.” Angel jumped the shark somewhere during the middle of season three; introducing Connor was just a dumb idea.
Anyway, here’s hoping they don’t screw up the Firefly movie Serenity.
I agree, Connor was a complete pain in the ass. And Buffy was never quite the same after the gang left high school. It was the concept of the high school girl as vampire slayer that was the basis of the show. It never worked quite as well when Buffy was working in a burger bar trying to support her sister who was really an elemental force, as cute as Dawn was.
It is currently September 2005. I was looking for this quote:
“Yeah. I just realized something. Something that really never occurred to me before. We’re going to win.”
on Google in regards to a blog piece I am writing on intelligence and I found this site; a discussion that seems to have ended on December 8th 2004 at 12:02 AM.
Maybe by posting to this site this thread will be thrown up to the top of a discussion list somewhere and maybe someone will remember being a part of it. Or maybe this last comment will sit here as a postscript to a conversation long since vanished from the face of the planet. Will it be archived by a bot or will it vanish from cyberspace? An online conversation is like a soul. We wonder if it will be remembered by some great power or will it disappear forever; making its mark in history and vanishing as perhaps the universe will some day. It is the not knowing that is the hardest part.
If some historian, whether human, artificial intelligence or other finds my post on this thread and happens to read it, please pause for a moment and think of me. I have spent so much time thinking about the future that it seems only appropriate that the future spend a thought or two about me.