Saturday, August 30, 2003

Interesting day today. My freshman seminar meets on Saturdays, 9 to 5, and goes to various Colonial and Revolutionary era sites in the Tidewater area. It's pretty cool...we went to the maritime museum today and looked at things about exploration, navigation, culture clashes with the Indians, yadda yadda yadda. But two of the most interesting quotes were from two of my classmates in the van on the way back to Williamsburg.
First quote: "One of my dormmates was complaining about Convocation...Convocation is one of the reasons I came here. I mean, the cool thing about William and Mary is the tradition."
Second quote: "People ask me, 'Why'd you choose William and Mary?' I'm like, do you have to ask? It's a good school and it's in Williamsburg."
That just about sums it up for me too, along with the Chem department and (as I have now learned) the qualities of the students around me.
Anyways...reflecting more on war and violence (heh), I got into a discussion with a few people at the museum about Heinlein's theory of citizenship (i.e., you only become a full citizen after being in the army). The basis of the theory lies in the fact that men in the military have learned how to put other's needs before theirs and are therefore will most likely vote more intelligently. There are, of course, flaws in this theory--although fewer flaws than if the basis were set in discipline, since the army doesn't necessarily create a lasting morality or civic awareness that accompanies said discipline. Anyway, one of the guys I was talking to said, "You mean they only put the rights of their buddies before their own." I pointed out that they were fighting to defend the rights of the people back home, and he said, "But they aren't supported by those who are against war."
The fact that they are fighting for people who don't support them is, well, irrelevant. They are, in fact, fighting to defend the rights of the ones who are able to protest against war. Assuming (as we tend to do) that our basic civil rights are still guaranteed, the anti-war crowd will never die (nor fade away, alas)...but let us never forget that the men they don't support often die to perpetuate that right.
I talked about selfishness as a good thing yesterday. The anti-war crowd contains a reality-denying selfishness that appalls the moral senses.
Okay, 'nuff said. I promise to make the next blog less partisan.

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