“Son, there are assholes everywhere” was my father‘s pithy rejoinder when I complained about some idiot or another – something I did frequently as a teenager. That reminder didn’t mean that assholes are the most common form of people, but that everyone had the capacity to be one. Hence my axiomatic approach – “trust but verify.” I assume people are self-interested but benign and largely unaware, so I am always pleasantly surprised when they prove me wrong. Fortunately, that happens frequently.
Nevertheless, I am warry of intent – hence situational awareness. A recent vignette:
Heidi ordered some replacement panels for our new refrigerator which were being shipped to the house. Freight is usually delivered by the lowest-cost independent carrier and the quality of the workforce is always a question. As the team hefted the panels inside, one of them said “nice house.” A potentially innocent compliment, but something about his tone gave me pause. His colleague was trying to scan the labels as proof of delivery, but his cell service wasn’t working so he needed to remove them for his records. He didn’t have a knife, so I offered mine – my Cold Steel Frenzy, “Wow, big knife,” he exclaimed with genuine surprise.
I wanted to send the message – this nice house is well-defended. Psychological warfare. Psyops. I am willing to give you my knife to use because I know I don’t need it – I have plenty more and better than what I gave you. My trust results from greater skill. Skill banishes fear.
Did I really believe that these delivery men were using their day job to case potential victims? No, but a flicker in my gut said it was a potential. They knew my address, my wife’s cell number and saw the general layout of the first level. So I listened to that flicker and acted upon it by producing a ferocious and effective weapon from my pocket and handing it to them.
My inspiration was Commodore Perry when he gave cannon to Japan to force a trade agreement. The gift was a naked display of power: here, you can have these cannon because we have plenty and we can return with more at any time. Gunboat diplomacy.
However, in trying to find that reference (trust but verify), I cannot corroborate my memory. The Brief Summary of the Perry Expedition to Japan, 1853, doesn’t list “cannon” in the official list of gifts. So perhaps my memory fails me, or that story I recalled from high school was apocryphal. Regardless, the story imparts the lesson: displays of power coerce compliance and act as deterrents.
Raw displays message at a biological level and thus are vulgar in polite society. Too many folks believe displays are no longer necessary because violence is not necessary – believing in our Better Angels. Nietzsche saw to the truth of the matter:
“Of all evil I deem you capable: Therefore I want good from you. Verily, I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no claws.
Friedrich Nietzsche: Thus Spake Zarathustra
Second Part 35, The Sublime Ones
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The Substitute (1996) Tom Berenger sizing up Richard Brooks – both looking over the clues that signal each of them are capable predators. Richard Brooks makes the first overt display, “Power perceived is power achieved.” Yes indeed! Just know there is always a more deadly predator than you.
Protective Arts 