Friday, January 20, 2006
Earning The Right To Criticize
Dadmanly had a great post the other day. He is looking at a new marine's decision to join up and speech by Teddy Roosevelt, but I think this is the heart of the post
This is especially true with endeavors like war. It's not like the movies, it's not like you imagine, it's probably not even like returning malcontents tell you it is. Until you have some experience, you are criticizing a phantom, a work of fiction.
The problem is, in large part that we do not have first hand information. Critics that don't have first hand experience, generally don't critize the firsthand experience either, they criticize the filtered, fumbled, and massaged information that comes out of someone that already has an axe to grind.
Sometimes it best to learn or to shut-up.
Related Tags: war, criticism, Teddy Roosevelt, experience
Beware those critics who stand back and abandon the fightCriticism is a necessary part of a functioning society, but criticism demands understanding and understanding usually comes from experience.
This is especially true with endeavors like war. It's not like the movies, it's not like you imagine, it's probably not even like returning malcontents tell you it is. Until you have some experience, you are criticizing a phantom, a work of fiction.
The problem is, in large part that we do not have first hand information. Critics that don't have first hand experience, generally don't critize the firsthand experience either, they criticize the filtered, fumbled, and massaged information that comes out of someone that already has an axe to grind.
Sometimes it best to learn or to shut-up.
Related Tags: war, criticism, Teddy Roosevelt, experience
