Persepolis, The Immutability Of War, And Blistering Cynicism

[krinndnz]

Violence is not a way of getting where you want to go, only more quickly. Its existence changes your destination. If you use it, you had better be prepared to find yourself in the kind of place it takes you to

Comments

Re: X's Legacy

[krinndnz]

I think we might differ on the definition "legitimate tool," but we share a bunch of these thoughts. I disagree with "violence is never a legitimate tool" and with "the State is the only entity which may legitimately enact violence," so I find that I'm almost required to admit that violence can sometimes be a legitimate tool. Perhaps the problem is not so much using violence as being able to stop using violence.

As for "refusing to play by the rules," I flashed to two things while turning that over in my head. One is the Mencken quote about every complex problem having a solution that's simple, easily implemented, and wrong. The other is an Order of the Stick strip. I read it as the short, stern advice about life as a deviant, so I'll reproduce it (more for me and for future readers than for you, because I bet you've read it):HINJO: The wisdom is this: Play the game. [...] I mean The Game, the big one. The one that each of us plays every day when we get out of bed, put on our face, and go out into the world. Some of us play to get ahead, some of us just want to get through the day without breaking character. It's called "Society." Your problem is that you don't want to play the game at all. You want to sit on the couch and eat Cheetos while everyone else is playing.
BELKAR: Well, why shouldn't I ? What's the point of their Society, anyway? It never did anything for me.
HINJO: The point is that if you laugh and spit in their faces enough times, they'll kick you out of the house. Which in this extended metaphor means killing you.
BELKAR, dismayed: So, what, you're saying the the only alternative is to show up and play by everyone else's stupid rules?
HINJO: Of course not, my woolly friend! You can cheat. Gods know I always did. Nudge die rolls, palm cards, "forget" penalties ... but you have to sit down to play first. As long as the people at the table see a fellow player across from them, they'll tolerate you. A crooked player is a pain in the ass, but someone who refuses to play at all makes them start questioning their own lives.

I don't have the courage to entirely renounce the bennies I get from accidents of birth and society, either.