Strangely, some of our best philosophers have had to hide behind the facade of fiction writing.
A fairly recent movie (Secondhand Lions) brought us the truism that “True love never dies.” Tom Clancy gave us the modern interpretation of the Biblical admonition against leaving survivors who can exact vengeance at a later time. And it was Robert Heinlein who gave us - in his “Starship Troopers - the perfect explanation of why war is neccesary. Allow me a rather long quote from pages 25 & 26 of my paperback copy. It’s an exchange between Mr. Dubois, a teacher and one of his students.
“But on the last day he seemed to be trying to find out what we had learned. One girl told him bluntly: “My mother says that violence never settles anything.”
“So?” Mr Dubois looked at her bleakly. “I’m sure the city fathers of Carthage would be glad to know that. Why doesn’t your mother tell them so? Or why don’t you?”
They had tangled before—since you couldn’t flunk the course, it wasn’t necessary to keep Mr. Dubois buttered up. She said shrilly, “You’re making fun of me! Eveybody knows that Carthage was destroyed!”
“You seemed to be unaware of it,” he said grimly. Since you do know it, wouldn’t you say that violence had settled their destinies rather thoroughly? However, I was not making fun of you personally; I was heaping scorn on an inexcusably silly idea—a practice I shall always follow. Anyone who clings to the historically untrue—and thoroughly immoral—doctrine that ‘violence never settles anything’ I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo. the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history that has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.””
Bob Heinlein was a very smart man—a lot smarter than some here who want us to petition the King again.
Nice quote.