We, the people

I'm told (by pathologically privacy-minded folks) there's an apparent contradiction in the otherwise smooth, metallic surface of my thoughts. Specifically, that I apparently use "we" erratically, which is to say, while generally in the abstract I give the impression of a very community-minded fellow, nevertheless in practice one can very well run into a "we ? what we ?" with the best of intentions, such as for instance recently and otherwise all the damned time.

Since nothing's quite as flattering as thinking up a bearing ball, let me remedy this apparent breach post haste! So, conjure up the mental image of a warband, for this is the state of male-dominated humanityⁱ. There's a bulk of infantry moving slowly over the landscape, there's a baggage train and a bunch of stragglers trying to keep up and there's a bunch of scouting parties and avant-gardesⁱⁱ well ahead of the rest. Now, the reason the scouts are the scouts is that they are quick. If they weren't quick, they'd be in the bulk, marching in step. If they were even slower than that, they'd be in the back with the baggage train, getting passed by ox-pulled carts and whatnotⁱⁱⁱ.

So now, in this image, you readily understand what "we" means. One can readily say to any straggler, "hey listen Bub, we're over there. Ketchup!". One however can not ever say to the scout, "hey, Joe, we're over here". For one thing, the scout knows where the bulk is. For the other thing, the scout doesn't care where the bulk is, except to make sure to not be there. Because just like marching with the oxen is manifest proof of a man's inadequacy, just so scouting among the bulk is the manifest proof of a scout's inadequacy. He's not a very good scout, is he ?

Obviously most paths the scouts scout end up not being used. This is besides the point. There is a fundamental difference between the paths that may be, where there's no we, and the paths that already were. So when you get an itch to use a "we", triple check and make sure you're using it as a "catch up with us, you lousy lout" growl rather than a "you're way too far ahead" nasal whine. Generally the scouts are too busy to hear you, but if you happen to have a commanding officer that did his time as light cavalry / recon rather than artillery or whatever the fuck, he might just as well turn his horse around and use the horse whip that he never actually did use on his horse straight over your eyes. Because guess what, his horse has a lot more sense than that.

Makes sense ?

1. The state of female-dominated humanity is a herbivore herd, perfect feedstock for the male band. The remains of which account for why the US is bombing ISIS rather than the reverse, the Middle East hasn't amounted to anything ever since the last time it was organised around male dominance, and it won't amount to anything until it does it again. Which is exactly why all the violence towards women happening there is a national necessity, as unpleasant and downright atrocious this correct observation happens to be : they have to somehow get rid of thinking that what women think matters, and they're currently in the "hate" phase immediately following love. Still caring way too much, of course, but hey, if brains could simply turn off stupidity there'd be a lot of smart people around. In fact, going from dumb to smart would just take a declaratory statement, not even necessarily expressed, like it works in the naive theoretical representations of the process.

   And yes that means the utter destruction of an extremely pleasant, tihnit lifestyle which thinking men either born by or familiar with the region will forever regret like they would (if they were idiots) regret the warmth of their mother's bosom. Fact remains that the deeply entrenched "we'll let women figure it out" political modus opperandi that expands from Cyprus to Iran (really, all the previous domains of the Hellenic influence of Byzantium) is a one way ticket straight to nowhere. The political choices for as long as there were people are that you can either have the men in charge and bleed every which way, or have women in charge and make extremely great subjects for a foreign power. Why exactly do you think it is that the Bulgaria of 500 was an empire in its own right threatening to conquer Constantinople, whereas the Bulgaria of 1500 made excellent gardeners for the Turks ? Could it be that in the intervening millenium they copied the mores and mental structures of the Whore of the Golden Horn ? Could it be that the 500 AD Bulgarian didn't give a shit what women thought on any topic, whereas the 1`500 AD Bulgarian was doing pretty well by female standards, all polite and respectful of others and so on and so forth ? [↩]

2. Seriously, why do you think the French for vanguard has come to mean "cool" ? [↩]
3. These seem easy to pass, if you don't think in perspective. They go slow, but the ox is extremely resilient, and they can go for 16 hours if need be. You can easily outpace something doing a mile an hour, no doubt about it, but can you walk 16 miles ? [↩]