How to start a war

Watched a video a week ago from a Harvard Professor discussing "The happiest people in the world do these four things every day".

He prefaced his conversation with this observation - they do not get overly involved in politics and limit their exposure - partaking in news with discretion and moderation.

Excellent advice - I think there are a lot of very unhappy/unbalanced individuals posting here.
He also observed polite people are absolutely happier than others.

This non partisan video might be well worth watching for people interested in self reflection:

The happiest people do these four things every day, says professor

 

i wonder if that professor has heard of germany

 

Starting a war is pretty easy, actually.
It's stopping them or winning them that gets people out over their skis.

Canada has a fine military, and it's unfair for Americans to think that they spend NOTHING for their status as a FOUNDING, full-fledged NATO member.

They DO spend NEXT to nothing......

That means they're not in much of a position to start a war with ANYONE, nor is that anything that I think that they would be wont to do.

 

all future data is suspect

 

Zero Democrat Presidents ever stopped a war while five Republican Presidents did....according to a quick AI search....pretty interesting....

 

History speaks to this....
Although to be fair, E.J. didn't actually 'say the thing.'
Known for his flinty disposition, he was asked about this later in the war by a VERY brave (or VERY attractive) Ensign, to which he replied something to the effect that...."No, I didn't say that....but had I thought of it I would have!"

King's daughter said that the Admiral was the most even tempered person she knew......
He was ALWAYS in a rage.

Yes.
You want people like THAT around when the wolf comes.
People who beat swords into plowshares often wind up plowing for people who do NOT.

 

Stopping wars is cherry picking?

 

When negotiating, sometimes the best solution is the stick, sometimes there's the carrot. The current administration seems to only comprehend beating people into submission using the stick. I get the negotiating tactics of starting with a draconian position, then negotiating to a final meeting point. But when you take on the whole world, beating everybody with a stick, the whole world will eventually rise up and beat you with their sticks all at once. The other guys know how to work together. The US doesn't hold all the cards, all the time. There are some things we don't make (yet), don't make because they can do it cheaper, or could never make. They'll nail us on all of that as hard and as long as they can, just to get us back for beating them with a stick.

When I've tried to negotiate deals, I always try to look at it from the other point of view. See what I'd want in their place. Sometimes it's best to use the carrot. That's when you can find the win-win deals. Sometimes you lose a little to gain a lot. Sometimes it's a short-term loss but a long-term gain. I'd only use the stick when I had to.

 

Didn't Harry Truman stop a war? Or, was it FDR who started the process of stopping that war before he died?

Did the politicians actually stop the war, or did they just take credit for what the warriors did?

Maybe it was the ones that surrendered that stopped the wars?

Meh.

 

Yep I was raised a Democrat....as a kid, I remember a picture of the Kennedy brothers in our living room. But after serving three tours in Vietnam with the US Army Signal Corps, my Dad left them and forbid any of us from saying the names Jane Fonda or Robert McNamara in his house. (They were responsible for MANY deaths of US military members.)
Dad didn't talk much about his Vietnam tours when I was younger but, after I joined the Air Force, told me some stuff....like seeing his best friend blown up when walking through a rice field and about him being shot down while flying in a Huey helicopter on the coast. (He broke his back but didn't even get to go home...they flew him to the Philippines for a few months and then right back to Vietnam to complete his one-year tour.)
He also told me about being spit on by some American protestors when they flew back home....but Dad loved his country and flew the Ole Glory flag out on his front lawn until the day he died to go be with Jesus.....a great American! He loved Ronald Reagan who was the reason I joined the Air Force in 1982. (Dad said to join either the Navy or the Air Force.)