I am fairly new here, and I have to say I am really enjoying your Substack.
Regarding Dresden (and barbarism, for that matter), I remember a student who sat behind me in a political theory class with an open laptop plastered with stickers. During break, while he was out of the room, I turned around to get a look at them. Among many was an Antifa logo, a trans flag, and a "Remember Dresden!" one where the font was engulfed in high, blazing flames.
He was a smart kid -- incredibly smart. Nerdy, overweight. I imagined how he would fare if civilization crumbled and he got a chance to live out what I imagined was his fantasy of fighting fascists. Some of the soldiers that I know seem to be at least fascist-adjacent. They are conservative, disciplined, former athletes who respond quickly to authority (coaches, superior officers, ...some of them to Trump).
In my musings, I thought he would instantly regret it if there were real violence. Then I remembered Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and all the other wars where the most powerful militaries were driven out by rag-tag guerrillas. Maybe he wouldn't fare so badly...
In any case, I felt sure that in that young man's heart was violence, just as there is violence in the hearts of so many among us: that stone-faced stranger passing us on the street, that group of outcasts huddled together in the back of class. Mike Huckabee.
I am fairly new here, and I have to say I am really enjoying your Substack.
Regarding Dresden (and barbarism, for that matter), I remember a student who sat behind me in a political theory class with an open laptop plastered with stickers. During break, while he was out of the room, I turned around to get a look at them. Among many was an Antifa logo, a trans flag, and a "Remember Dresden!" one where the font was engulfed in high, blazing flames.
He was a smart kid -- incredibly smart. Nerdy, overweight. I imagined how he would fare if civilization crumbled and he got a chance to live out what I imagined was his fantasy of fighting fascists. Some of the soldiers that I know seem to be at least fascist-adjacent. They are conservative, disciplined, former athletes who respond quickly to authority (coaches, superior officers, ...some of them to Trump).
In my musings, I thought he would instantly regret it if there were real violence. Then I remembered Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and all the other wars where the most powerful militaries were driven out by rag-tag guerrillas. Maybe he wouldn't fare so badly...
In any case, I felt sure that in that young man's heart was violence, just as there is violence in the hearts of so many among us: that stone-faced stranger passing us on the street, that group of outcasts huddled together in the back of class. Mike Huckabee.
Let us pray and believe it, indeed.