tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post4197028733338279137..comments2024-03-28T18:59:57.979+00:00Comments on Poul Anderson Appreciation: History Of Rome, Continued.Ketlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588156788583883454noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-12838822561398867152022-12-26T21:29:25.564+00:002022-12-26T21:29:25.564+00:00Kaor, Jim!
Not all of them, maybe. But we would w...Kaor, Jim!<br /><br />Not all of them, maybe. But we would want any halfway decent police force to be competent, respectful of the laws, and of the rights of citizens.<br /><br />Happy New Year! SeanSean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-17687019085013405562022-12-26T17:59:24.272+00:002022-12-26T17:59:24.272+00:00Virtues for running a business are not necessarily...Virtues for running a business are not necessarily virtues for running eg: a police force.Jim Baerghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03182949391365921637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-73234877812416222722022-12-25T21:45:13.512+00:002022-12-25T21:45:13.512+00:00Kaor, Jim!
I'm not sure I completely understa...Kaor, Jim!<br /><br />I'm not sure I completely understand your comments here. Maybe I would need to read Jane Jacobs' book first. I do agree Communist Party of the USSR was an odiously vile mafia!<br /><br />Merry Christmas! Sean Sean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-18006456097772851732022-12-25T19:26:06.011+00:002022-12-25T19:26:06.011+00:00"because the military virtues simply are not ..."because the military virtues simply are not SUITABLE for the messy complexities of politics"<br />That point reminds me of the book "Systems of Survival" by Jane Jacobs. She sets it up as a sort of Platonic dialog in which the speakers note that often opposite qualities are proclaimed as virtues by different writers. The speaker in the book separate virtues into a pair of 'moral syndromes', the 'Guardian' & 'Commercial' syndromes, each of which is good for some sorts of activities and institutions & bad in the activities & institutions the other is good for.<br /><br />A major point in the book is that trying to have the same institution do both Guardian & Commercial activites results in a Mafia eg: the Commnunist Party of the Soviet Union.<br /><br />One person *can* do both activities as long as s/he is aware of which 'hat' s/he should be wearing & switch moral syndromes appropriately.Jim Baerghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03182949391365921637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-44976056530159845852016-06-06T17:02:20.099+01:002016-06-06T17:02:20.099+01:00Kaor, Paul!
Again, thanks for the nice mention of...Kaor, Paul!<br /><br />Again, thanks for the nice mention of me! And your last sentence, about Marius ("a good general but a bad politician") reminded me of the concluding portions of Pournelle/Stirling's PRINCE OF SPARTA, when Dr. Whitlock, quoting Grand Admiral Lermontov's advice to his friends and colleagues, said that the worse kind of government we could have is military rule. Not because military people are bad (many, in fact, will be good, honorable, capable, admirable) but because the military virtues simply are not SUITABLE for the messy complexities of politics.<br /><br />I would have suggested to Admiral Lermontov that rule by fanatical ideologues of the kind exemplified by Robespierre, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler, etc., would be even worse than rule by generals or colonels, but I do understand his point.<br /><br />SeanSean M. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13973738112230622557noreply@blogger.com