Date: Jan. 9, 2020
Dandavats Prabhu Gokulananda.
A phrase commonly heard from 2nd Amendment proponents/gun owners regarding the government taking their guns is “They’ll have to pry it from my cold dead hands.” It sounds good but the prying loose of guns from the hands has been going on for decades while the hands are still warm. As you know, in my opinion it will continue. So long as the guns are removed incrementally the government will get its way. In the end those who would resist to the point of death are few and far between, on the high side I would guess less than 5% of gun owners would fight to their death to keep them and I would be surprised if the number amounted to even one or two percent. Talk is cheap and easy when the consequences are distant.
On the other side of the coin are regimes such as Iran and North Korea who seek or have nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Trump, like all his predecessors, keeps repeating phrases like “Iran will never get a nuclear weapon.” even as they incrementally get ever closer to having one; and N. Korea builds as many as they want while further enhancing their delivery systems. As long as they proceed incrementally they are sure to get nuclear weapons and increase their deadliness unless the US and/or its allies are willing to “Pry them from their cold dead hands.” I don’t believe any government in the world has the will to go that far.
The US decrys many governments around the world as being bullies. It is said they bully their citizens with coercive power and force while shying away from any foe that has the strength and determination to stand against them.
Is the US any different? It has continually coerced its citizens into vacating the pillars of its most basic rights held within the first, second and other amendments. It bullies its own citizens while running away from bullies like N. Korea and Iran.
In the recent skirmish with Iran, what was accomplished? Was Iran taught any lesson? No. Why? Because Trump made it clear “The US does not want war with Iran.” Why not? The message is clear, he is afraid of what Iran might do. Indeed, they bombed US military installations in Iraq which could have killed US military and must have damaged US military assets, a move that would have been taken as “An act of war.” in most other situations. If Iran had launched its missiles at a US military base in Utah instead of Iraq, with the same results (no one killed), wouldn’t such a provocation be considered an act of war? Trump’s response, however, was one of passivity: “Oh, well, no one was killed. So, let bygones be bygones, “kay sera, sera.” I’m sure Iran could not have crafted a more favorable response for itself.
Iran showed the US it was willing to kill US personel (even if by accident) and attack its military bases in response to killing its general, Soleimani. Iran stood up to the bully and the bully backed down.
What have the small bullies like N. Korea and Iran learned from the big bully, President Trump? I doubt they have learned anything except that their tactics of incrementalism and asymmetrical warfare work as well with him as they have worked with everyone else. That’s my take away.
The US does not possess the will to “Pry the nuclear weapons out of their cold dead hands.” And, unlike US gun owners, N. Korea and Iran will not give up their nukes any other way.
Trump has a year left to make good on his promises re: N. Korea and Iran. If he gets another four years afterwards can N. Korea and Iran wait him out? Why not?
If I don’t believe Trump’s rhetoric, why should the enemies of the US?
When Trump began his threats to Rocket Man I immediately identified them as hollow. He has done nothing since then to change my mind.
What’s the problem? Friends and family.
The US appears to be far more casualty averse than the little bullies it faces.
The little bullies hold the friends and families of the US as hostages and the US has not been able to free them. N. Korea holds S. Korea hostage: “If you kill us we will kill millions of S. Koreans.” That’s threat enough for the US to be reduced to jell-o. Likewise, Iran has many proxies the US does not want to deal with. Thus, Iran’s threat is: “If you kill us, we will take Israel with us, along with all sorts of terror attacks on US & ally personnel throughout the Middle East and possibly even within the US.
Can the US starve N. Korea and Iran into submission? N. Korea, no, not likely, so long as it receives support from China, Russia, Iran and other “bad actor nations” who band together to support each other and use one another for carrying out their nefarious purposes. The same is true for Iran with its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, etc.
Even without active support from fellow bad actor nations, the remarkable ability of “good men to do nothing” allows evil to flourish. The EU is happy to support those who would kill it. It is happy to open its doors to Russia, Iran and China so long as it makes a profit doing so; “Money talks.” The EU even welcomes the antithesis to its cultural norms in the form of Muslim immigrants who will undoubtedly overwhelm it with its norms if only by repopulating Europe with its own offspring. While the EU is busy aborting and birth-controlling its way to depopulation, Muslim families are busy with ‘production’, as Srila Govinda Maharaja might say.
You can’t save those who have no interest in saving themselves. In general, I see the West that way. While Trump is humming “kay sera, sera”, the dictators around the world have sworn “You will take my power away only by prying it from my cold dead hands.” and, unlike US gun owners, they mean it.
“Since even saintly persons take pleasure in the killing of a scorpion or a snake, all the worlds have achieved great satisfaction because of the death of this demon.” — ŚB 7.9.14
Calling a demon a demon and identifying evil as evil have passed out of vogue, it is not fashionable. Without a willingness to identify a disease, no cure can be applied.
To kill a snake one must cut off its head. Because the heads of the snakes are now identified as “heads of state”, there is a powerful aversion to cutting them off. As a result they continue to terrorize the world.
That’s been my strategic veiw for a long time. I keep hoping something will change it. Nothing has, I think nothing will. Shudras (the masses) do not want independence, they want a master. They want it so badly they do not care much who the master is as long as there’s food on the table. Let us, then, join with Mr. Trump in singing “Kay sera, sera.” but with the understanding that “Whatever will be, will be.” should mean “Whatever the Divine Will will be, will be.” His will is always auspicious for all jivas.
Yours,
Swami B.K. Giri