3 ms·

Actually, the parallels are striking. All sorts of dangerous idiots on all sides are heading for the big trapdoor erected over the completely and utterly predic

Actually, the parallels are striking. All sorts of dangerous idiots on all sides are heading for the big trapdoor erected over the completely and utterly predictable power vacuum we left in Iraq.

woodman 12y ago
re edit: Well I don't know how successful the strategy actually was. Also, a knight would be more like today's generals right? Again, not a super relevant comparison. The time and money spent on getting the actual trigger pullers up to speed and into action is incredibly expensive, there would be a lot of cheaper alternatives to handling troublemakers.
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  Less like a general and more like a (for the time) state of the art high speed weapons platform, possibly with not much to do. The sort of person you really don't want gallivanting around and raiding nearby castles through boredom. So you tell them that they can kill and still go to heaven, as long as they do it somewhere else. Then you take their confession in advance and give them a nice new shiny sword and send them out of the country.
  - woodman 12y ago
    Well didn't they enjoy titles, land and command of foot-soldiers - in exchange for an oath of loyalty? How would they be more like an inanimate object than today's generals (who have similar benefits to what I just listed)? Also, I understood your original point to be related to the threat from a human bad actor - not a "state of the art high speed weapons platform".
    - lotsofmangos 12y ago
      Personally, I'd call a state of the art high speed weapons platform a very animated object. However the reason that I am conflating the person with the technology is because they were. A knight was as much the armour, the horse, the swords and the retinue as it was the person inside the armour. The lesser kings, princes and dukes of the time were more like todays generals. Knights were more like tanks.
      - woodman 12y ago
        lol, well consider that against your comment at the top of this thread - none of this is logically consistent.

Actually, the parallels are striking. All sorts of dangerous idiots on all sides are heading for the big trapdoor erected over the completely and utterly predictable power vacuum we left in Iraq.

woodman 12y ago

re edit: Well I don't know how successful the strategy actually was. Also, a knight would be more like today's generals right? Again, not a super relevant comparison. The time and money spent on getting the actual trigger pullers up to speed and into action is incredibly expensive, there would be a lot of cheaper alternatives to handling troublemakers.

lotsofmangos 12y ago
Less like a general and more like a (for the time) state of the art high speed weapons platform, possibly with not much to do. The sort of person you really don't want gallivanting around and raiding nearby castles through boredom. So you tell them that they can kill and still go to heaven, as long as they do it somewhere else. Then you take their confession in advance and give them a nice new shiny sword and send them out of the country.
- woodman 12y ago
  Well didn't they enjoy titles, land and command of foot-soldiers - in exchange for an oath of loyalty? How would they be more like an inanimate object than today's generals (who have similar benefits to what I just listed)? Also, I understood your original point to be related to the threat from a human bad actor - not a "state of the art high speed weapons platform".
  - lotsofmangos 12y ago
    Personally, I'd call a state of the art high speed weapons platform a very animated object. However the reason that I am conflating the person with the technology is because they were. A knight was as much the armour, the horse, the swords and the retinue as it was the person inside the armour. The lesser kings, princes and dukes of the time were more like todays generals. Knights were more like tanks.
    - woodman 12y ago
      lol, well consider that against your comment at the top of this thread - none of this is logically consistent.