"The Gun Is Civilization" by Maj. L. Caudill, USMC(Ret.)

I've made the argument for years that an armed society is polite society. My thought has always been that if everyone is armed, then a person is much less likely to do something rude or belligerent, fearing the potential consequences. I began to believe this about three decades ago when certain idiots, especially in California, were shooting at people in episodes of "road rage."

My brother was driving through Atlanta on Interstate 20 during this period and someone pulled up beside him and brandished a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver. My brother, though kept our grandfather's .45-caliber Colt M1911 service pistol in his truck and made a show of holding the weapon in full view and chambering a round.

The next thing he saw was a cloud of blue tire smoke as the guy next to him hit his brakes. There was no problem after that.

So, when I saw this most well written confirmation of my argument I've ever encountered, I thought I should share this:

"The Gun Is Civilization"
by Maj. L. Caudill, USMC(Ret.)

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it. In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a armed mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat--it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly. Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.

People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level. The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter.
It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation... and that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Welcome To Abu Dhabi

It has now been three weeks since I left my home in South Carolina and after 27 hours of traveling landed at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. The appointed driver was there and I was whisked to the hotel on Yas Island just to the east of the United Arab Emirates capitol.

If the Emirates were a US state it would be ranked 40th in size between Maine and my home state, and it has double the population of South Carolina, or about 8 million. Incredibly, only about one million are Emirati (the term used for citizens of the UAE), and the population here doubled between 2005 and 2010. There are seven emirates, equivalent to European principalities, of which Abu Dhabi is the largest and the wealthiest by huge margins. Despite this, Dubai is the more well-known city in the UAE.

Despite being on the sea, it is a desert land full of low-lying islands, salt flats and mangroves. The fauna can be interesting. I was told that up until a few years ago there were frequent collisions with camels on the main highway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. So, in that vein, it’s a bit more like Maine and their moose collisions than South Carolina. We only have collisions with deer, and deer don’t typically come crashing through windshields like moose and camels do!

Interestingly, just fifty years ago, the only paved road in the country was apparently a one-lane asphalt road between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And in Abu Dhabi there was but one paved road in 1965. Full independence in 1971 from Great Britain saw Abu Dhabi emerge as the capitol of this nation and a planned building effort eventually emerged for the city. Today, Abu Dhabi boasts a world-class skyline, branches of NYU and the Sorbonne, and currently under construction are branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums.

The native language here is Arabic, but I have yet to find a single person who does not speak or refuses to speak English! IKEA, Ace Hardware, KFC, Popeyes, McDonald’s, and Starbucks are just a few of the stores here. Oh, and don’t forget Bloomingdales! And of course Sheraton, Holiday, Ramada and Radisson are prominent.

There are a few things here that do need explanation. For instance, a foreigner cannot own a pick-up truck here! I’m not sure how this redneck boy is supposed to survive! The SUV market is wide open and I even found a beautiful, red 1963 Plymouth Fury! If it’s still available in two months I may buy it! If not, there are a wide range of Fords, Jeeps, Mercedes, Mitsubishis, Range and Land Rovers, and Toyotas.

I’ve found banking here to be quite interesting. There are a variety of banks, both Emirati and foreign (American, European). I’ve chosen to bank with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and have gotten amazing service, quite honestly, that most American banks can and should learn and implement. An example is that any time I use my debit card I get a SMS post on my phone within ten seconds advising me that my card was used for the amount paid or received at the ATM.

Housing is a bit high, though, and one must pay six months rent in advance. Fortunately my employer allows an advance of 6 months of my housing allowance. Utility costs are low, though.

Abu Dhabi has been proclaimed the world’s wealthiest city, and I have nothing to prove them wrong. It is an island city, laid out efficiently in a grid pattern. Traffic is heavy, but there is an efficient and cheap bus and taxi service. I went all over the city for most of one day and paid a total of about 100 Dirhams (abbreviated as ‘AED’), or about $26.

I’ll continue this commentary in the future as I see and learn more about my new home.