Forgive me if this seems out of place, but I've been gone for a couple days and I may have missed something here.
Haggis:
Both quotes have been around for a few thousands of years.
As for the first quote, ["who gaurds the gaurds?" - FreeMe] I'm doing my best to spread the word that the guards can't be trusted right here.
Oh � so you�re a cyberwarrior, and this is your chosen battleground. Wow.
You could do so much more than this, if you would focus on the real problem.
As for the second quote, ["good iron is not used for nails, nor good men for (enforcers)" - FreeMe] it's from a Chinese philosopher some 2500 years ago. Its truth is what has kept it around for so long.
Okay, Haggis � you made me look.
Your paraphrasing of an old Chinese folk saying is interesting. Unfortunately � like many who use verses from the Bible to justify their attitudes, you seem to have used it out of social/historical context, IMO. I'd bet that it's something entirely different than truth that kept this around - just because a phrase refuses to die, doesn't make it true. Just becaues a philosopher said it doesn't make it true either. And for the record, there are several conflicting variations of this phrase floating around through history.
Then you change the original word �soldiers� to �enforcers�. You have substituted apples for oranges, in a most cynical way.
Such regurgitation of the �nail/soldiers� proverb would naturally be propagated by those who would think themselves �good men�, while branding soldiers (or cops) as the opposite. But they have missed the point.
Here�s another Chinese proverb: �civilians give the empire peace, and soldiers give it security�.
Seems to contradict your point, doesn�t it? Why would the same folks who cling to the �nails/soldiers� line also say this? That is�unless they actually respect and appreciate their soldiers.
Oh � and BTW � these proverbs are coming from a society that is comfortable with the term �empire�. One of the byproducts of that is a reduced need of �enforcers�, because the citizens are largely conditioned to obedience to authority (and authority is less inclined to accommodate the rights/desires of the citizenry).
Why on earth should we give any great weight to such proverbs (or any of their various modifications) in our (US) society?
I would prefer... �liberty requires eternal vigilance�.
This is the crux of our problem (yes, with abusive law enforcement). Without a righteous and vigilant society, liberty leads to apathy. Apathy leads to anarchy. Anarchy leads to fascism (nature abhors a vacuum). So where in this continuum do you think we are now? Who�s fault is it when we suffer from abusive laws and abusive enforcement?
The Founding Fathers warned us about this. We haven�t been listening. What gives us the right to blame a few (or even a lot of) bad cops?
-FreeMe
