Angela
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On the other hand, you don't defeat nazism or tyranny by just saying that it's bad. You need to be willing and able to defeat it by force if necessary.
In the Greek context, warlike people are free because they want freedom and are willing and able to fight for it, whereas others are either slaves by nature or liable to be enslaved by anyone. Warlike people are courageous whereas others are cowardly.
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Hippocrates, Airs, Waters, Places:
“with regard to the pusillanimity and cowardice of the inhabitants, the principal reason the Asiatics are more unwarlike and of gentler disposition than the Europeans is, the nature of the seasons, which do not undergo any great changes either to heat or cold, or the like; for there is neither excitement of the understanding nor any strong change of the body whereby the temper might be ruffled and they be roused to inconsiderate emotion and passion, rather than living as they do always in the state. It is changes of all kinds which arouse understanding of mankind, and do not allow them to get into a torpid condition. For these reasons, it appears to me, the Asiatic race is feeble, and further, owing to their laws; for monarchy prevails in the greater part of Asia, and where men are not their own masters nor independent, but are the slaves of others, it is not a matter of consideration with them how they may acquire military discipline, but how they may seem not to be warlike, for the dangers are not equally shared, since they must serve as soldiers, perhaps endure fatigue, and die for their masters, far from their children, their wives, and other friends; and whatever noble and manly actions they may perform lead only to the aggrandizement of their masters, whilst the fruits which they reap are dangers and death; and, in addition to all this, the lands of such persons must be laid waste by the enemy and want of culture. Thus, then, if any one be naturally warlike and courageous, his disposition will be changed by the institutions. As a strong proof of all this, such Greeks or barbarians in Asia as are not under a despotic form of government, but are independent, and enjoy the fruits of their own labors, are of all others the most warlike; for these encounter dangers on their own account, bear the prizes of their own valor, and in like manner endure the punishment of their own cowardice."
- Airs, Waters, Places (part 16)
Aristotle, Politics:
“there is a rule of another kind, which is exercised over freemen and equals by birth – a constitutional rule, which the ruler must learn by obeying, as he would learn the duties of a general of cavalry by being under the orders of a general of cavalry, or the duties of a general of infantry by being under the orders of a general of infantry, and by having had the command of a regiment and of a company. It has been well said that 'he who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.' The two are not the same, but the good citizen ought to be capable of both; he should know how to govern like a freeman, and how to obey like a freeman – these are the virtues of a citizen. … The people who are suited for constitutional freedom are those among whom there naturally exists a warlike multitude able to rule and to obey in turn by a law which gives office to the well-to-do according to their desert.”
- Politics, Book 3
"those who cannot face danger like men are the slaves of any invader."
- Politics, Book 7
That's a complete exaggeration. If you believe that, then I guess you believe all western Europeans, including Northern Europeans who may be 40-50% steppe in ancestry, are by their nature cowards. It was England and France who let the Germans take over the Rhineland, and Czechoslovakia, and Austria. They'd had enough of war and death. It's Finland which has done what it's told by the U.S.S.R.
England did hold out when there was no other option, but without U.S. aid it would have fallen.
Then after the second world war, Western Europe was, imo, once again blind and supine before a military power. Was there ever such stupidity as believing that if the west gave up its nuclear weapons all would be well, because then the U.S.S.R. would give up its weapons? Perhaps cowardice played some part in it.
Yet, as I said, many of these protestors were carrying a lot of steppe ancestry.
Plus, how can you not see the difference between a war of conquest whose purpose is to enslave other people, and a war of defense?
Then there's the fact that a lot depends on the force you are opposing. My Celt-Ligurian ancestors, a very warlike people often hired as mercenaries in the ancient world, resisted the Romans ferociously until many of them were re-located far from home in Campania, and the rest had to flee to the hills and mountains. I have wondered often if it was worth it. The Romans weren't like the steppe people, including the Huns, or even like some of the empires in the east. All they cared about was taxation. If you accepted incorporation into the Empire the only real difference was that a portion of your taxes was forwarded to Rome by your elites. You weren't killed or enslaved unless you resisted. You could also keep your own language, customs, religion, and even elites. Even if you were enslaved, you could buy your freedom and build a life for yourself. It wasn't the slavery of the Americas. Was it worth facing annihilation to resist them?
Compare that to the Nazi Empire. They looted and starved the other European countries and treated them like slaves, particularly the people in the East.
That's why the Roman Empire lasted for hundreds of years and the Nazis a few decades. Even the U.S.S.R. lasted for less than a century.
There are lessons one can learn from history if one is objective when reading it.
If you're so enamored with tribal cultures which are extremely violent and warlike, perhaps you're an admirer of people like the Pashtun. They have a nice, healthy dose of steppe ancestry. As for me, I can think of few fates more horrible than being born into such a society.