I could not dig: I dared not rob:
Therefore I lied to please the mob.
Now all my lies are proved untrue
And I must face the men I slew.
What tale shall serve me here among
Mine angry and defrauded young?
– A Dead Statesman, Rudyard Kipling
I could not dig: I dared not rob:
Therefore I lied to please the mob.
Now all my lies are proved untrue
And I must face the men I slew.
What tale shall serve me here among
Mine angry and defrauded young?
– A Dead Statesman, Rudyard Kipling
As always, John Oliver is spot on.
Me: Look, we’re just trying to promote stability.
Martian: On Earth, war makes things more stable?
Me: It’s…complicated. But really, America is a peace-loving culture.
Martian: But you have more wars than anyone. On Mars, this does not seem peaceful.
Me: Okay, but it’s not terrorism. Terrorism is when, you know, you terrorize people.
Martian: But did you not, alone among the peoples of your planet, use atomic weapons against your fellow humans, when you bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Me: Only to end the war.
Barry Eisler on the how you would explain the difference between war and terrorism to a Martian. Well worth a read.
From Information is Beautiful. Click through for the full list.