What honour has man?
Could modern society exist where every person had a sword strapped to their side? I don’t think it could. I don’t think the western world is man enough to be able to handle all that sharp steel. Every rule would have to be re-written, sure, and there would new laws governing the use of the sword, but what of honour?
A man steps on another man’s foot on the subway, or bumps into him in the street. A flash of steel, and the man is cut down. Is this a likely scenario? I can’t imagine it would be, but only because I can only ever be confident in the goodness of man, or else what else do we have? When it’s all stripped away, would we kill each other for food, would we kill everyone around us so that we might survive? I can’t live and still believe that man would end his own race, his own species. The Cold War only made it so far because no one leader, no one man had it in him to end the world. And how could he?
A lot of questions, questions with no answers. One thing I can say for certain is there would be a lot more fear in the world. If everyone were taught in public school the art of swordplay, if everyone received their own sword like it were a rite of passage at some arbitrary age, like 17 or something, wouldn’t everyone have a lot more damned respect from their peers? The world would be such a more polite place, and not like having guns at all. In the current situation, nobody knows if the other has a gun, nobody knows who’s packing what in the small of their back, strapped to their ankle, slung over their shoulder in a fancy shoulder holster (why does that make me think of Dr. Seuss?); if everyone knew everyone else had a sword, if everyone’s sword were clearly visible, it would be a completely different situation.
I don’t want to drag anything into this that I don’t fully understand, but as I understand it baptised Sikhs are supposed to wear at all times a kirpan as one of the Five K’s (articles of faith, each beginning with the letter K) of outward declaration of one’s religion. I won’t say anything further in case I get something wrong or insult someone by misrepresenting their beliefs, so you can do your own research if you don’t get it or want to know more. The point I’m trying to make is that Sikhs are not extinct after hundreds of years, because they treat the kirpan as a protective tool, not an offensive weapon.
The kirpan is, and again I’m treading lightly in respect, a symbol of religious and personal security, to be used to protect the weak and prevent violence. If everyone were to wear a sword, I think it would breed non-violence, through fear definitely, but also through respect. Wearing a sword, I would respect the ability of others to use it, and I would hope they would respect my own.
I can’t say that the nuts wouldn’t whip out their swords and start laying about with them, but with everyone else also carrying a sword, someone would have to be either pretty ballsy or pretty crazy. The swords we all would carry would be defensive weapons, methods of last resort, but mostly tools of social reform. You wouldn’t question a man’s honour if he wore a sword, and you’d hope he wouldn’t question your own honour either.
I’m not sure if any of this makes sense, if I’ve offended some or confused others. I just think there’d be a lot less hate and a lot more respect and honour in the world if everyone had a means of defending themselves.
DFTBA
Could modern society exist where every person had a sword strapped to their side? I don’t think it could. I don’t think the western world is man enough to be able to handle all that sharp steel. Every rule would have to be re-written, sure, and there would new laws governing the use of the sword, but what of honour?
A man steps on another man’s foot on the subway, or bumps into him in the street. A flash of steel, and the man is cut down. Is this a likely scenario? I can’t imagine it would be, but only because I can only ever be confident in the goodness of man, or else what else do we have? When it’s all stripped away, would we kill each other for food, would we kill everyone around us so that we might survive? I can’t live and still believe that man would end his own race, his own species. The Cold War only made it so far because no one leader, no one man had it in him to end the world. And how could he?
A lot of questions, questions with no answers. One thing I can say for certain is there would be a lot more fear in the world. If everyone were taught in public school the art of swordplay, if everyone received their own sword like it were a rite of passage at some arbitrary age, like 17 or something, wouldn’t everyone have a lot more damned respect from their peers? The world would be such a more polite place, and not like having guns at all. In the current situation, nobody knows if the other has a gun, nobody knows who’s packing what in the small of their back, strapped to their ankle, slung over their shoulder in a fancy shoulder holster (why does that make me think of Dr. Seuss?); if everyone knew everyone else had a sword, if everyone’s sword were clearly visible, it would be a completely different situation.
I don’t want to drag anything into this that I don’t fully understand, but as I understand it baptised Sikhs are supposed to wear at all times a kirpan as one of the Five K’s (articles of faith, each beginning with the letter K) of outward declaration of one’s religion. I won’t say anything further in case I get something wrong or insult someone by misrepresenting their beliefs, so you can do your own research if you don’t get it or want to know more. The point I’m trying to make is that Sikhs are not extinct after hundreds of years, because they treat the kirpan as a protective tool, not an offensive weapon.
The kirpan is, and again I’m treading lightly in respect, a symbol of religious and personal security, to be used to protect the weak and prevent violence. If everyone were to wear a sword, I think it would breed non-violence, through fear definitely, but also through respect. Wearing a sword, I would respect the ability of others to use it, and I would hope they would respect my own.
I can’t say that the nuts wouldn’t whip out their swords and start laying about with them, but with everyone else also carrying a sword, someone would have to be either pretty ballsy or pretty crazy. The swords we all would carry would be defensive weapons, methods of last resort, but mostly tools of social reform. You wouldn’t question a man’s honour if he wore a sword, and you’d hope he wouldn’t question your own honour either.
I’m not sure if any of this makes sense, if I’ve offended some or confused others. I just think there’d be a lot less hate and a lot more respect and honour in the world if everyone had a means of defending themselves.
DFTBA
