Recommended by Ricochet Members Created with Sketch. Quote of the Day: Civilization and Barbarians

 

“It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.” — Spock, “Mirror, Mirror” Star Trek.

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  1. OldDanRhody's speakeasy Member

    C. U. Douglas: “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.”

    What’s the difference?

    • #1
    • April 10, 2019, at 9:25 AM PDT
    • 2 likes
  2. Judge Mental Member

    OldDanRhody (View Comment):

    C. U. Douglas: “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.”

    What’s the difference?

    Among barbarians, man exploits man. Among the civilized, it’s the other way around.

    • #2
    • April 10, 2019, at 9:30 AM PDT
    • 22 likes
  3. Vectorman Member

    I remember a fellow employee who called me a Barbarian, in that I challenged the Status Quo. While somewhat true at that time, the question today is can we map the Left vs. Right as to Barbarians vs. Civilized? Even though the Left now has more control over the Media, Academics, and the general culture, they can no longer be classified as Civilized, based on Judeo-Christian values in the West.


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    • #3
    • April 10, 2019, at 9:35 AM PDT
    • 3 likes
  4. Seawriter Contributor

    OldDanRhody (View Comment):

    C. U. Douglas: “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.”

    What’s the difference?

    Every society rests on a barbarian base. The people who don’t understand civilization, and wouldn’t like it if they did. The hitchhikers. The people who create nothing, and who don’t appreciate what others have created for them, and who think civilization is something that just exists and that all they need to do is enjoy what they can understand of it—luxuries, a high living standard, and easy work for high pay. Responsibilities? Phooey! What do they have a government for?”

    It wasn’t the war that put Hitler into power. It was the fact that the ruling class of his nation, the people who kept things running, were discredited. The masses, the homemade barbarians, didn’t have anybody to take their responsibilities for them. A ruling class that’s ashamed of its privileges and shirks its duties. A ruling class that has begun to believe that the masses are just as good as they are, which they manifestly are not.

    From Space Viking, by H. Beam Piper

    • #4
    • April 10, 2019, at 11:15 AM PDT
    • 14 likes
  5. TBA Coolidge

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    OldDanRhody (View Comment):

    C. U. Douglas: “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.”

    What’s the difference?

    Every society rests on a barbarian base. The people who don’t understand civilization, and wouldn’t like it if they did. The hitchhikers. The people who create nothing, and who don’t appreciate what others have created for them, and who think civilization is something that just exists and that all they need to do is enjoy what they can understand of it—luxuries, a high living standard, and easy work for high pay. Responsibilities? Phooey! What do they have a government for?”

    It wasn’t the war that put Hitler into power. It was the fact that the ruling class of his nation, the people who kept things running, were discredited. The masses, the homemade barbarians, didn’t have anybody to take their responsibilities for them. A ruling class that’s ashamed of its privileges and shirks its duties. A ruling class that has begun to believe that the masses are just as good as they are, which they manifestly are not.

    From Space Viking, by H. Beam Piper

    Huh. 

    • #5
    • April 10, 2019, at 4:22 PM PDT
    • 1 like
  6. JoelB Member

    The “barbarians” of Star Trek lived in a lawless society. The “civilized men” were governed by laws that protected them. 

    • #6
    • April 11, 2019, at 5:34 AM PDT
    • Like
  7. Randy Weivoda Moderator
    Randy WeivodaJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    C. U. Douglas:

    “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.” — Spock, “Mirror, Mirror” Star Trek.

    In the specific case of that episode, yes. But I don’t know if that’s a universal principal. An ISIS member could probably take a bath, put on clean clothes and pass as a normal. But put a sword in the hands of @peterrobinson and tell him to chop the head off of a handcuffed infidel and I know Peter could not pass for a barbarian.

    • #7
    • April 13, 2019, at 11:54 AM PDT
    • 3 likes
  8. TBA Coolidge

    Randy Weivoda (View Comment):

    C. U. Douglas:

    “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.” — Spock, “Mirror, Mirror” Star Trek.

    In the specific case of that episode, yes. But I don’t know if that’s a universal principal. An ISIS member could probably take a bath, put on clean clothes and pass as a normal. But put a sword in the hands of @peterrobinson and tell him to chop the head off of a handcuffed infidel and I know Peter could not pass for a barbarian.

    Nah, Robinson has a berserker’s soul, you can see it in outtakes when his mask slips. 

    • #8
    • April 13, 2019, at 4:08 PM PDT
    • 2 likes

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