I have recently been playing a computer game entitled Stronghold 2 Deluxe. It is considered to be an old game, but as I normally don't like warring games I tend to avoid them. My husband does enjoy this sort of game however, although he doesn't like too much of the societal building up involved.
He tried to do just the war part of the game and came a cropper. I decided to help him, and we spent one day looking only at the rules of the game - not always easily followed and learned. Then we decided to do a slower peace time building up, to get the hang of the various aspects of the game. Later he started to pursue the warlike aspects, and having learned the earlier "unimportant part of building up a kingdom" he finally appreciated the way the game actually works, and succeeded at fighting many of the wars within the Kingmaker section.
Even I have started to appreciate the strategies behind the battles themselves and together we manage to play the game quite successfully.
One thing I taught my husband was that it was important to keep the people of any neutral kingdoms brought under our banner, happy! Usually it doesn't take too much, but without people there are no armies to fight with, and so if another lord has lots more soldiers he will likely win! Now, my husband has acknowledged that acting like a bully/dictator doesn't work. More benevolance is required to win.
Perhaps that is the message we should be telling our political leaders? At the moment, certainly in the UK, the political leaders are encouraging more and more diktat and less and less benevolance, at least towards the indigenous, law-abiding people. Visitors get all the help they need but only by turning the screws on the natives/nationals of the country.
It is time the politicians and big business (the elite of this world) learned a few lessons in how to win. Being bullies is not the answer. If you are benevolant to your people you will find that in return you too gain, possibly a bit slower at first, but in the end you will get everything you desire and more. But it takes time, takes benevolance, takes compassion, takes a caring attitude, on top of the war jingoism that is prevalent.
They should be smart!
The problem with politicians is that the system turns them into animals with short-range vision. They care only not about the things that matter or could make a big difference, but about the easily accomplished goals that CAN be done during their brief stay in power.
There's no re-election in Mexico; it was the basic postulate of the Mexican Revolution ("Effective Vote, No Re-Election!"). Because of that the Presidet only has 6 years to try to do a few of the many things he promised to the citizens during the elections. And that obviously makes them steer clear of the really difficult tasks that would take many years to be completed, whose fruits would be harvested by ANOTHER politician. They care more about their rating polls and popularity than comitting to make the really unpopular decisions that will be best in the long run. Nobody wants to raise taxes, but sometimes it is necessary.
I hate George W. Bush, but I admit you can almost respect the way he goes on making all these (stupid) decisions that make him more and more unpopular, simply because he honestly believes (I least I hope he honestly believes it!) that they are in the best interest of the American people. I don't know if he would have been a better President if he had just followed the whims of the voters; I doubt it.
Ok, you're right. There's NO WAY he could have been a worse President! ;-)
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It's not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me...
It's all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!
Red Pill Junkie