Heinlein's sheepdogs vs wolves
May. 4th, 2023 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragoness_e2019-11-18:
Someone totally misunderstood Heinlein, who invented that metaphor. Heinlein was talking about people capable of doing violence, and that not all of them are or have to be "wolves"--violent predators. The better path is that of the "sheepdog", the one who can use violence to protect those who aren't violent.
What Heinlein didn't quite get is something that another old scifi author, James Schmitz, did: all humans are feral, untamed. All humans are capable of violence if sufficiently provoked. There are no sheep, just fluffy lazy sheepdogs who haven't been annoyed (and lazy wolves who haven't had a rabbit run past). Even avowed pacifists are capable of violence, they just choose not to use violence.
(Louis L'Amour was fond of pointing that out outside his stories, too--a lot of those 'peaceful townsfolk' in the REAL Old West included Civil War veterans who took a dim view of fools shooting up the town and robbing the local bank).
Someone totally misunderstood Heinlein, who invented that metaphor. Heinlein was talking about people capable of doing violence, and that not all of them are or have to be "wolves"--violent predators. The better path is that of the "sheepdog", the one who can use violence to protect those who aren't violent.
What Heinlein didn't quite get is something that another old scifi author, James Schmitz, did: all humans are feral, untamed. All humans are capable of violence if sufficiently provoked. There are no sheep, just fluffy lazy sheepdogs who haven't been annoyed (and lazy wolves who haven't had a rabbit run past). Even avowed pacifists are capable of violence, they just choose not to use violence.
(Louis L'Amour was fond of pointing that out outside his stories, too--a lot of those 'peaceful townsfolk' in the REAL Old West included Civil War veterans who took a dim view of fools shooting up the town and robbing the local bank).
