So said Robert Heinlein in his first (and worst) published novel, Beyond This Horizon, set in a future which has revived the custom of (only) men bearing weapons in public and responding to slights with a challenge to a duel.
But “polite” is not a word I’ve ever heard applied to South Central L.A.
Stephen Pinker, in The Blank Slate, talks about this idea (at least orthagonally). As I stated in the other thread, he suggests that in a society in which people do not feel that a law-enforcement organization adequately provides for their protection, many folks rely on their reputation to protect them. As such, they work to build a reputation as someone who won’t tolerate the slightest slight, as someone who will vastly overreact to a slight, on the belief that they’ll therefore be safe from predation.
It’s not a question of whether an armed society is a polite society, then: it’s a question of whether a lawless society is a polite society. It’s not, if you believe that politeness requires a certain amount of give and take.
Daniel
I think an armed society is an armed society, and that’s about the only conclusion that can be drawn.
In addition to South Central, I also submit the Old West as a test example. One might infer that being known as armed and willing to respond to slights with lethal force does indeed make people treat you with respect, until you turn your back and it catches a bullet.
As a society, we have in common decided that rudeness is deserving of death, and written laws and customs accordingly. I think that the only way that an armed society would lead to a polite society is if we rethought this conclusion.
Check that last paragraph :).
Daniel
You really think Beyond This Horizon is worse than Sixth Column?
Or Number of the Beast? Phew, what a stinker that was.
Funniest thing I’ve read all day! thanks!
Um. That was meant to be ‘not deserving of death’ in my above quote. I appear to have unintentionally produced humor.
go ahead give yerself a :smack: lol
Yes, because Sixth Column has (1) only one plot (2) which makes sense.
Exactly right.
A German coworker in Switzerland claimed that the Swiss are so polite because they all know that everybody else does have an automatic in his house. Not “may have:” “has.” Government issue, even. So you don’t want to drive your neighbor up a wall, no no no!
The Swiss are very polite but I didn’t find them particularly welcoming, or helpful.
I felt some of the same about the British.
Politeness isn’t necessarily a good thing. Taken past basic courtesy, being extremely polite is to hide what one is really thinking or intending.
Apart from any discussion of guns, I’m glad we in the U.S. are more likely to be frank with each other.