A Fight Half Done
I noticed something the other day, but that is a topic for a different blog post. Today is about something I've seen in horror movies for awhile. Not the naked women that used to fill these movies in the 80s and 90s, but instead lets talk about the final scene. The monster, this overwhelming creature of pure evil with the strength to back it up, gets shot and falls down. At this point, the pitiful human has an advantage over the monster, so the human is now the more powerful of the two. So, what does this human do? He or she throws down the weapon, turns his or her back and walks away, followed by everyone in the audience screaming at the screen "He isn't dead yet! Shoot him again!" They never do. Once the human has the upper hand, they walk away. Then the monster rises up and attacks again, followed by a struggle of some sort, and the human finally kills the monster, which is what he or she should have done in the first place. This person had to wait until the monster was once again a stronger threat before he or she could kill it.
Two quotes come to mind when I see this in a horror movie: "Never get involved in a fight unless you are willing to finish it." and "Never deal a non-fatal blow to an opponent."
Who amongst us wasn't picked on in school? This picking on probably didn't create a sense of "wow, I learned my place! I will accept my lot in life..." How many of us instead thought, and still think to this day, "I'll show them! Some day I will be rich and/or powerful, and will come back to this town and show them who's boss!" See, the same thing as in the monster movie. Not finishing someone off when one has the upper hand is always fatal!
At every point in a conflict one side is the stronger of the two. People fear beating on the wimp, because it is a losing proposition. One needs to deliver a decisive blow early in the fight, or do not even bother. Who wants to kill someone or thing when it is on its last breath? Do you want to see an hour of someone kicking someones ass, beating them to a bloody pulp, then finally killing them? After an hour of this would you say "Wow, that was so cool! That tough guy finally won!" Probably not. But if the tough guy went through a crowd of wimps, killing them all with the slightest touch, I imagine it would a very popular movie!
This is all based on people not wanting to kill the underdog. At some point in the fight, if the underdog has the upperhand, he is no longer the underdog, so the roles are reversed.
When invading another country, it is the same thing. If you do not take over and master it ASAP, it is like kicking the ass of a wimp for an hour. No one wants to see it. No one feels a sense of empowerment. People are just disgusted by it. If you want to be an invader, go in and kick ass! Do not leave a fight half done, or that country will hold a grudge forever.
The Edward
4 comments:
Thus the 3rd Reich was born.
And thus the Roman Empire was born. And thus the Mongolian Empire was born. Etc. There are very many examples of conquerors and of people in history that finished a job. I assume by your choice of empire that you are also associating other aspects of the 3rd Reich with all conquerors - why? I'm not quite sure I understand your comment.
My contention isn't that empires or conquering are good, but that if one starts doing it, don't pull out when half done or someone will be upset. No one has even been half beat by someone then become thankful of the beater for not finishing the job. If one doesn't have the stomach to finish something, one shouldn't start something, no matter what that is. Killing a monster, beating someone at chess, or taking over a country.
What I meant was that they didn't finish the job in World War I, they just shot the monster that was Germany and walked away so then Hitler and the 3rd Reich came back like Jason or Michael, bigger and badder and infinitely more evil and harder to defeat.
Interesting! It appears that I misunderstood your comments. Thank you for clarifying! Based on the ideas I quoted by Sun Tzu, I would have to agree. Humans do not want to deliver the Coup de Grâce, which is why they write about it, to tell others that this is a mistake. We must be hardwired for mercy, and hardwired to want revenge on those that show it.
So, if the World had finished off Iraq back when they had actually done something 15+ years ago, we wouldn't be where we are today.
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