Wednesday
Sending soldiers off to war zones and then prosecuting them for not abiding by the ‘rules of engagement’ stinks. In a life and death struggle, those who pause to contemplate the rules get killed by those who do not.
Life is composed of endeavours – things such as football, a job, business, gardening, painting, boxing, relationship, music etc. An endeavour is best thought of as a game, because it has rules. Any departure from the rules is, at best, judged a touch eccentric or, at worst, unethical.
However, a fight is not a game. In a fight, there are no rules.
In a fight, anything goes if it ensures survival. In human society, games played by the rules are normal, sane behaviour. Fighting does not fall into this category; it is not only outside of social behaviour, it is its antithesis.
That is why it is wise to evade or avoid any possibility of a fight. If that is not possible, then know that there are no rules to what follows.
To sit in a plush office and order someone into harm’s way, and to then criticise how they cope with that, displays not only an ignorance of life, but a callous indifference to the plight of one’s fellow man.