There are two groups. One has made a separate peace, and one is trying to keep the boat afloat. I suspect those in the latter group privately, in a place so private they don't even express it to themselves, wonder if they'll go down with the ship.
This neatly sums up the dilemma we all face (not just the elites) in times like these. On one hand, making a separate peace amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. On the other, it may nonetheless be the safer of the two options. Trying to save the ship is no guarantee that you will succeed, and if you don't, you will have sacrificed in vain, and possibly be worse off than if you had made the separate peace yourself.
So, it follows that most of those who are trying to save the ship fall into one or both of these categories: (1) They are highly confident that the ship can be saved, and/or (2) figure they have little or nothing more to lose by doing so, as opposed to making the separate peace.
There is, of course, a third category as well: those who believe that abandoning ship is simply not an option, regardless of the cost of trying or the odds against success. (Hence, for instance, Winston Churchill's famous quote about fighting a dominant enemy to the death rather than living as slaves.) But that mindset is very rare among Western elites these days, even the ones who are inclined to save the ship.
While we're digging up quotes and talking about saving, sinking or abandoning the ship, let me throw out one courtesy of Bill Cosby, describing God speaking to Noah:
"How long can you tread water?"
Sure, abandoning ship is *always* an option. But one who seriously considers such an option, yet don't ask him/herself that question, is nothing more or less than a damn fool.
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>
JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/10/noonans-response.html (3 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
There are two groups. One has made a separate peace, and one is trying to keep the boat afloat. I suspect those in the latter group privately, in a place so private they don't even express it to themselves, wonder if they'll go down with the ship.
This neatly sums up the dilemma we all face (not just the elites) in times like these. On one hand, making a separate peace amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. On the other, it may nonetheless be the safer of the two options. Trying to save the ship is no guarantee that you will succeed, and if you don't, you will have sacrificed in vain, and possibly be worse off than if you had made the separate peace yourself.
So, it follows that most of those who are trying to save the ship fall into one or both of these categories: (1) They are highly confident that the ship can be saved, and/or (2) figure they have little or nothing more to lose by doing so, as opposed to making the separate peace.
There is, of course, a third category as well: those who believe that abandoning ship is simply not an option, regardless of the cost of trying or the odds against success. (Hence, for instance, Winston Churchill's famous quote about fighting a dominant enemy to the death rather than living as slaves.) But that mindset is very rare among Western elites these days, even the ones who are inclined to save the ship.
While we're digging up quotes and talking about saving, sinking or abandoning the ship, let me throw out one courtesy of Bill Cosby, describing God speaking to Noah:
"How long can you tread water?"
Sure, abandoning ship is *always* an option. But one who seriously considers such an option, yet don't ask him/herself that question, is nothing more or less than a damn fool.
Bill Cosby, Noah's Ark...
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=52wXFJjkubI
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>