A quote from Henry David Thoreau in his essay “Civil Disobedience”.
In his essay Thoreau wrote, “I am a citizen of the universe. I have nothing to do but to obey.” Thoreau was one of the first people to question the idea of “the universe” and “the laws of nature.” He is one of the few people to question the use of power over others and the use of force in the name of a higher power.
The quote from Thoreau is, I believe, a more direct statement of what we all should be doing, not saying. The idea is that any use of force that isn’t directed toward the destruction of someone else is immoral. And that’s the root of all the issues we have with power and force.
In his essay on the concept of “the use of force,” Thoreau says: “In war, in pestilence, in famine, in naked violence, the use of force is at an end. That is the nature of things.” He goes on to say, “…if we were to leave even one drop of blood on an enemy’s soil, there would be no war.
We can’t allow our fellow man to be subjugated by force. We need to start with the concept that violence against any human being is not only immoral, it is criminal. The use of force should be directed toward the destruction of any human being, and not toward any abstract ideal. The concept of “war without a target” is one that I have been taught to value.
I think I would have to agree with him. I believe that what we have here is a war between good and evil, which is a subject that has been a hot topic of discussion for many years now. It is one that we should not allow to continue. The use of force in today’s world is both unnecessary and immoral.
I agree. I have seen the term “non-lethal” used to describe the use of guns, and I can say that the term is often used incorrectly. In fact, I would argue that it is often used to justify the use of force. So I would agree with Scott that the use of force should be directed toward the destruction of any human being, and not toward any abstract ideal.
In that regard, I think that using an “anytime, anywhere” philosophy of self-defense, rather than a “one bullet kills” philosophy is a mistake. For example, we live in a world where weapons, and the use of them, are more prevalent and more available. And the same is true for people. If you want to protect yourself, you have to be able to defend yourself.
I’m not a fan of the idea that one bullet kills. I think the whole “one bullet kills” philosophy came about from a mindset that just didn’t think enough about the effects of force on the body. If you’re not careful, you can end up in a situation where a single bullet will kill you, but not before you’ve already been injured enough to be incapacitated.
The problem is, sometimes, being shot in the back will kill you. A lot of us are aware of this. But not all of us. We see it every day. We see people get shot in the back for no reason. We see people get shot in the back because their parents were killed a long time ago. But it happens every single day.