Peace and Love

One of the most iconic and brutal scenes in a movie or television show is in Lonesome Dove when an Army Scout is trying to take a horse away from some young cowboys. One of the young men is holding on to the horse and won’t let go, while an old, crusty Army scout is on a horse and whipping him with a quirt. The young man is the bastard son of Captain Call, an old retired Texas Ranger. He see what is taking place, from a distance, mounts and rides his horse into the Scouts horse, knocking him off the horse and proceeds to beat the holy hell out of him using a branding iron and smashing his face into an anvil. 

All of this takes place for several reasons. But the essence of it is summed up when Call is pulled out of the fight by his lifelong friend Captain Gus McRae. Call looks at the crowd and announces, rather sheepishly, “He was acting rude. I won’t tolerate rudeness in a man.”

Wow. 

To us today, in a “civilized society”, it is appalling. We don’t see things like this and most would not do it. I grew up in a time where men, and boys, settled their differences with fists. It was accepted and understood. Usually there were enough people watching to stop it from getting out of hand. Usually, when it was a couple boys, you might get a bloody nose and some hurt feelings, but that was about it. I grew up hearing of fist fights that went on for a long time and even was around at least one where both parties had to go to the doctor to get bandaged up, afterwords. It was ugly. Appalling.

Now we are a “kinder, gentler” society, supposedly. I understand that most of us agree with that and think it is right and good. We were all admonished to not fight when we were younger. It was so ingrained in men and boys not to fight, and I so took it to heart, when I was a child that when the time came and I had to fight as a young man, I remember I couldn’t hit my opponent in the face. Guess who won that time!

I watched some fisticuffs in high school. I never liked it. The worst was when it was two young women. Ugly! Hideous! I was raised to believe that women were of a higher order then men and didn’t do such things. I since have learned that girls fought and still do, but mostly with their words.

And now I see young men raised to be the same as those girls. There are a lot of keyboard warriors out there. They will say terrible things from the back of a keyboard. And no one ever really calls them to taw, for their rudeness. Or shows them the error of their ways, by inflicting some physical pain on them. I don’t think that has served us well.

Some will tell you we are on the brink of the third World War. I am not sure. Maybe we always will be until it actually happens. But few people go to war anymore. Few people see any kind of hurt and carnage caused by actual fighting. With fists or knives or guns. Except in the movies and on TV. And so we become disassociated with it. It becomes common place. Few know what it feels like to wake up the next morning after an actual fight. The disappointment and pain and hollow spot inside your gut. Win or lose.

Violence is ugly. So is rudeness. But maybe it’s time for all good men to no longer tolerate rudeness without an honest answer, in todays world. Perhaps a small bit of ugly and violence could stop others from randomly being rude and not having to answer for it. Perhaps more would be kinder and gentler if they found out what can happen if they are not. Physical pain can be a very good reminder of not letting it happen again, and one will take steps to assure we don’t have it happen again. Peace and love is all well and good as long as everyone does it. But when peace and love are not practiced I think it behooves all of us men, to step up and show them why peace and love is a good policy.

Just my opinion and you sure don’t have to agree with it.