1/26/2005: Hindu swastika

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by BigV

Equalizer, my ass. Equal is rock paper scissors. "Superior-izer" is what is intended to be conveyed. But the fig leaf of only striving to "equalize" the potential situation hides the fear of weakness.

Your making the mistake of taking the slogan out of it's original context. On the frontier, the nearest "law" might be 3 days ride and everyone was armed. If you have a muzzle loader and he has a carbine, you usually lose. The Colt revolver was the state of the art in speed and reliability, so you couldn't be trumped.

The marquis of Queensbury doesn't apply here...there's no shake hands and come out at the bell. There's no ring doctor to stop the contest. Your life is on the line from even a small wound. During the just pasted Civil War, thousands died from small wounds.

Fast forward to 2005....you have to assume that everyone has a gun. Not everyone does but you don't know which ones.
Altercation with anyone is dangerous business. No matter how big, bad or macho you are, I bet you still can't catch a bullet in your teeth.
It may be a superior-izer... but you can't count on it being anything more than an equalizer.
Like Groucho said, "You Bet Your Life".

It's just freakin stuff. You can get more stuff, but lose life, game over. I reckon that having surrendered faith and confidence to fear and doubt, that stuff is the next best thing to cling to.

Surrendering faith and confidence to fear and doubt is exactly what happens if you let them take your stuff.
It's not losing the STUFF..... it's LOSING the stuff.