03 June 2009

Peace Through Superior Firepower

According to a new study, the United States ranks 83rd among the most peaceful places (nations) to live in the world. New Zealand ranked first, while Iraq ranked last out of 144 nations.

"Peace," in this 2009 Global Peade Index study by an Australian think tank, the Institute for Economics and Peace, is defined as "the absence of violence. Weighing against the U.S., among other things (risk of terrorism, etc), say study organizers, is the ease of access to "weapons."

So I ask, what is a "weapon?" Steak knives are "weapons." Baseball bats are "weapons." Ballpoint pens are classified as edged "weapons." In Krav Maga self defense classes I have taken, anything around you -- a chair, a fire hydrant, your car keys, a DVD player, anything.... -- is a potential weapon. Even automobiles have been used as "weapons."

But history has shown that oversimplification is the hallmark of these kinds of studies.

You know what? Self defense is a basic human right. The right to exist. And with that right, comes the right to obtain the means to defend one's life against the scumbags of the world. And scumbags, and crime, exist in every nation. How many time have we watched the United National stand idely by -- filmed or recorded by media -- as tribes and peoples of nations are slaughtered because they have given up their firearms in order to have peace. Then these people, whose only goal is to find that peace, are hacked to death by machete-wielding neighbors.

Enough already.

There is a reason the firearm was -- and still is -- called "the peacemaker"in the U.S. In that regard, nothing has changed. I will take the safety of the U.S., and my ability to keep myself safe (at least in my state) any day.

Peace comes through superior firepower.

So sayeth a sheepdog.


Ran said...

A) Justice, Freedom and the basic human right to self-defense are preferable to the peace of sheep.

B) "Australian think tank." No irony there, especially when one examines the metric standards for the rating.

C) NZ is especially peaceful... it's bloody isolated, it's mercifully small and it hasn't got 300 million people. It has one hell of a lot of sheep, though. Just sayin'.

Right... D) "Si vis pacem, para bellum." [The Romans weren't wrong about everything.]

Brent Greer said...

Nicely said, Ran!

BobG said...


In that case, I'd like to see how they ranked Switzerland.

Brent Greer said...

A GREAT question!! I will have to look into the guts of the study and get back to you on that one! The swiss may be neutral, and they may now be accommodating bank examiners (so much for their privacy laws) but they are armed to the teeth!