My first
day log, and yet not really a day log. This was written by me on November 19, 2001 regarding
September 11, 2001 and its aftermath, in a 1,961 byte file called replrand.txt. I'm only
reviewing it today.
"
He that scatters thorns, let him not go barefoot."
-
Ben Franklin
If a ruler's own behavior is considered undesirable by others, what actions should they use against the ruler?
If you want to convince people what is and isn't correct procedure, reasons for your opinions must be given. The difference is that the pawns of rulers are told what is right procedure, while anarchists, prophets, or whatever you want to call them, decide for themselves.
There is of course a gray area that then depends on other axes like the severity and directness of the "undesired" behavior. Say we start off at chasing off perps. If someone is posing a threat to human life, then many will feel justified in escalating to capturing, maiming, killing, etc. If the person is no longer posing a direct threat, then there is a de-escalation process.
Then there are flanking maneuvers. If you really are trying to help those who are despised, then you go among them (doesn't matter if they are prostitutes, thieves, or even tax collectors) and you show them alternative ways of achieving their goals - assuming you can actually think of any.
Finally, you can flush out the full spectrum of things you do believe in - say chasing away through voting. What else has been left out? Let's say the Bush administration really is just trying to stop people who claim to be Muslims from killing more people. The most obvious thing his military advisers have left out is due to their lack of knowledge of psychological warfare. There are many valid Muslim interpretations of Islam out there - they may not all agree, but there are certainly a great number opposed to the killing of innocent people. Instead of just one-sided propaganda from the American viewpoint (clearly an unacceptable choice) - interpretations from all those other Muslim viewpoints would be much more easily accepted. Different versions by different individuals surely, but so long as it prevents more collateral damage in America, right?