Reposted Comments

36th Rule of Acquisition: War is good for business. Peace is good for business.

When the war profits start to flatline then there is invariably a period of peace that increases profits. In this period there is rebuilding of infrastructure, alliances, material goods that replace those lost on personal levels and the economies that allow the survivors to repopulate. The peace period is the time to build so that it can be knocked down again.

I think back to those days when I would build a tower with blocks and my little brother wouldl revel in destroying it. He is the ultimate consumer conqueror. And I, ever hopeful, would rebuild in part for the joy of building, reveling in the act of creation. But after one incident in which he beat the snot out of me for not rebuilding fast enough I learned something crucial: I learned to build what could not be destroyed.

My spirit. Detached from the things used to control us, it is less likely that we will be abused by our own gifts.

I think.

I posted this as a comment over at Archive Fire in response to his post about the Racketeering of war. I had this discussion with my brother once over the Summer in which he told me that I was full of crap to believe that War was a motivating factor in economics and that War just happens. He also insisted that there would never be peace because the reason for war was strength and justice over an enemy like Al Queda. He does not see global conflict as the controller between the haves and the have nots. He sees it as the defense of rights and beliefs. Which I guess is true. But it is the belief that the elite has that is being defended, our bodies being used as both the bullets and the sheilds.

Of course I did not mention that the 36th Rule is a Ferengi axiom. Or that the Ferengi come straight out of Star Trek. And since he has never been one to understand similie and metaphor or even that all fiction is based on truth I do not even try to enlighten him anymore. He is a black and white thinker. What he has is his. What I have is his when he can figure out how to get it.

Since berating has not worked he now offers the olive branch of peace. Or the Lucy van Pelt football.

But I am not Charlie Brown.