Quote of the Day: Cowardice

 

“When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion.” ― Eric Hoffer

So, has cowardice become a fashion? The excessive timidity over Covid suggests it may well have. So, too, do increased reports of police not just ceasing to be proactive about policing – spending time avoiding getting into “situations.” But it has gone beyond that, with police refusing to make arrests of violent and dangerous criminals for fear of the adverse reaction should the perpetrator receive his just desserts when resisting arrest.

Outright police cowardice is rarer, but it reared its ugly head at the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, where one armed policeman actually fled and took cover. He was allowed to retire, another example of cowardice on the part of superiors who did not want the hassle of going after him.

Let’s not pick on the police, though. How many of us are afraid to take action against what we know is wrong – most notably the racism of the BLM and “anti-racism” crowd? How many people are even afraid to name the candidate they intend to vote for in a few weeks, for fear of retribution?

When I was a child, when you ran across a bully you confronted them. You pushed back when you were pushed, and if he took a swing at you, you popped him on the nose. Today, with zero-tolerance policies self-defense is viewed as unacceptable. We must understand rather than act. Which only embolden bullies.

Ultimately cowardice is unsustainable, except if you are willing to live as a slave. We became the land of the free, because we were the home of the brave.  But fear begets fear.

There is a modern Greek saying that goes, “It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” We get a chance to get off our knees and on our feet this November at the ballot box. But it will take more than just voting. It will take standing up for our rights afterward.

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  1. John H. Member
    John H.
    @JohnH

    So, has cowardice become a fashion?

    Yes.

    • #1
  2. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Seawriter: When I was a child, when you ran across a bully you confronted them. You pushed back when you were pushed, and if he took a swing at you, you popped him on the nose.

    Oh, but it’s so much more civilized now! 🙄

    Seawriter: Today, with zero-tolerance policies self-defense is viewed as unacceptable. We must understand rather than act. Which only embolden bullies.

    It seems to me another appropriate quote would be, “An armed society is a polite society.” The society has to value things like freedom and honor over life.


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    • #2
  3. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    John H. (View Comment):

    So, has cowardice become a fashion?

    Yes.

    Maybe, but I would argue that, among our “learned class”, cowardice has become a virtue.  

    • #3
  4. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    That dirty little coward . . .

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    That dirty little coward . . .

    …that shot Mister Howard?

    • #5
  6. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Basil Fawlty (View Comment):

    That dirty little coward . . .

    …that shot Mister Howard?

    I kid you not.

    • #6
  7. Misthiocracy got drunk and Member
    Misthiocracy got drunk and
    @Misthiocracy

    Seawriter: When I was a child, when you ran across a bully you confronted them. You pushed back when you were pushed, and if he took a swing at you, you popped him on the nose.

    When I was a child the bullies were freakin’ psychopaths who should have been in a reformatory but “education is a right” so they were allowed to stick around propagating terror. Pushing back was very hazardous to one’s health.

    • #7
  8. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):
    Pushing back was very hazardous to one’s health.

    Nevertheless, I persisted.

    • #8
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