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Aspinator
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15 May 2024, 7:51 pm

"Violence Is The Last Refuge Of The Incompetent" (Issac Asimov Foundation 1951) Does this saying bring anyone to mind?



Fnord
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16 May 2024, 12:44 am

Aspinator wrote:
"Violence Is The Last Refuge Of The Incompetent" (Issac Asimov Foundation 1951) Does this saying bring anyone to mind?
Just about every male high-school classmate I ever had -- buncha testosterone-poisoned cretins, every one.

BTW: Salvor Hardin was the character whom Asimov quoted in 1942 as saying, "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."

Wikipedia wrote:
Salvor Hardin is a fictional character in the 'Foundation' series by Isaac Asimov.  Introduced in the 1942 short story 'Foundation', he is the first mayor of Terminus, the home planet of the Foundation.  He defuses a potential political crisis with four nearby barbarian planets, while also securing their dependence on the Foundation.  Hardin takes advantage of this power in "Bridle and Saddle" (1942) when one of the planets, Anacreon, declares war on the Foundation.


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Aspinator
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16 May 2024, 8:33 am

I was referring to Trump.



roronoa79
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16 May 2024, 10:34 am

Ah yes, one of those beloved quotes of advocates of the status quo and those who believe the system works. I mainly see it applied to protesters, rioters, terrorists, rebels, etc. I rarely see it used to condemn official state violence.

Aspinator wrote:
I was referring to Trump.

I honestly more often hear this quote being used by conservatives in general and MAGAs specifically.

Ironically, this includes the crowd that adores the military and the police, and I feel like they would probably be angry if I pointed out that, by this quote, people in the police and military choose to be incompetent for a living.


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I guess I just wasn't made for these times.
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Δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν.
Those with power do what their power permits, and the weak can only acquiesce.

- Thucydides