tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35519852.post7642468152018624694..comments2016-12-27T11:06:05.915-08:00Comments on The Neutralist: TheMasterTimekeeperRichard Morchoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14884103775820347526noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35519852.post-4357698283827803062008-08-07T19:32:00.000-07:002008-08-07T19:32:00.000-07:00" I would not care to leave so many things to chan..." I would not care to leave so many things to chance, as it were."<BR/><BR/>All life is chance. The only non chance is the sure ruin that imperialism is.<BR/><BR/>The postwar long weekend that we had as a result of getting into WWII late was an anomaly. We won't get to tie things up so neatly again. Trying to keep that game going forever won't happen.<BR/><BR/>Not fair, but I'm running away for the weekend. I'm sure we have miles to go.<BR/><BR/>Think about TheMastertimekeeper and The Neutralist- the book, if not the movie.Richard Morchoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14884103775820347526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35519852.post-64468885978302595492008-08-07T19:20:00.000-07:002008-08-07T19:20:00.000-07:00I'll respond to your final question first. My son ...I'll respond to your final question first. My son is of the age where he is more interested in being a pirate or a Jedi than a rifleman, so my immediate answer would be an indulgent smile. Nonetheless- I understand the spirit in which the question is raised. We'll proceed under the assumption that he's just finished high school, etc.<BR/><BR><BR/>I would sit down with my son and examine his reasons for doing so. I would also discuss, as candidly as possible, the trials and travails of military service. If his reasons were sufficient, I would tell him he had my full support; if not, I would try to communicate my objections. In either event I would do my best to make sure he aware of what he was potentially getting in to. Having made sure he had as much knowledge as possible at his disposal, I would be obliged to stand clear and let him make up his own mind. This might sound trite, but it's what my father (a Nam-era draft dodger) did before I began my own military career and <I>that</I> was in the relative safety of the Clinton era.<BR/><BR><BR/>For the rest of your post, there is a great deal we agree on. It would certainly be nice, for instance, to see China and Putin's Russia back to nipping at each other rather than conducting joint military exercises. Likewise I have a great deal of respect for the manner in which the Swiss have comported themselves, culturally and economically, for the past fifty years. In the final analysis I believe that being able to actively influence events abroad is better to have than to do without. I would not care to leave so many things to chance, as it were. This does not equal imperialism in my book but it is already established that our definitions of the term differ.<BR/><BR><BR/>Since it wasn't my intention to drop an <I>obscure</I> historical reference, R. Douglas Stuart was the organizer of the America First Committee.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com