Weer'd World

so here Wally and I talk about the “Sheepdog” mentality. First if you don’t know the term have a read here. Read the whole thing, but in a brief nutshell I’d quote this:

“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”

I’ve never been much of a fan of this analogy. While I do agree the modern man or woman who might identify themselves as “Pacifist” (tho by nature Pacifists are EXTREMELY brave…I would also make the judgment call that they are also stupid. But it takes vastly more bravery and restraint to allow yourself to be beaten and not strike back than it takes to stand your ground and fight) but they’re closer to cowards who hide behind idealism. These are the people in this video who did NOTHING while being threatened with death. They were likely repeating “I can’t believe this is happening to me…” over-and-over in their heads. And they’re right, they go through their entire lives never really thinking about being attacker or having their life on the line. And because we live in a relativity safe society, many never DO get in such a situation.

I can see them as sheep.

The wolves are people like this monster, they do violence and harm by nature, and there is nothing besides death that will stop them from compulsively causing harm and mayhem.

This is much like a Wolf or other predator.

But the Sheep Dog? Sorry, that’s not me. Its not my job to save your ass, and I will agree with Wally on one point, if I ever draw my weapon in defense, it will be for 100% selfish reasons.

But what does that mean? Certainly if I was in a shopping mall and I heard shooting coming from deeper in the Mall and I was armed and near an exit, I’d be getting the hell out of there and calling 911. I don’t know if I’d have run towards the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, and I certainly wouldn’t try to enter the Virginia Tech hall where the shootings happened.

But what if I had a clear shot at an active shooter who hadn’t seen me? Obviously If I was unseen I could sneak away or remain hidden…but while I got to safety others would be killed. Would I be able to live with myself? I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable with that choice. (I will also note that I am Married, but without children…this might be different if I had more dependents), what if there was an active shooter at my office? While I’m friendly with most of the people I work with, I don’t get too friendly just because I HAVE to work with them every day…but I have no personal malice against any of them, and genuinely like most of them, also given that its Massachusetts, and most of my company are Chinese Nationals, I would bet my lunch money that I’m the ONLY armed person in the building. Could I sneak out the back, leaving them alone and unarmed?

I also don’t think I could live with myself if I thought I could stop the attack.

Certainly I’ll draw my gun to defend my life, as well as the lives of my family and friends, but I can’t say I’d never use my gun to defend a perfect stranger.

But I’ll also say I’m NOT a “Sheepdog”, its not my job to protect the flock, and I have no loyalty to them, and I constantly urge people to arm themselves because they are the only protection they can count on.

Be safe people, and carry your gun, because it is a lighter burden than regret! –Breda