Trump says hes instructed Navy to destroy any Iranian gunboats harassing US ships reads the beautiful headline on a Fox News story published this morning (4-22-20) by Brooke Singman. (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-hes-instructed-navy-to-destroy-any-iranian-gunboats-harassing-us-ships)
THIS is how you deal with a bully! If you appease a bully he is encouraged and emboldened to become MORE of a bully because bullies prey on whoever they perceive to be the weak and the timid. The operative principle here is the fact that if you subsidize something you will get more of it (obviously)the corollary being: If you tax something you will get less of it (but thats another discussion).
If you simply ignore a bully this will also cause him to turn up the heat because he will reason that he is about to be successful with a little more intimidation because if you did not respond to his first belligerence then you must be too weak to do so and youll eventually give in.
BUT if you stand up to a bullyESPECIALLY if you are bigger and stronger than he isand let him know that you will not be intimidated by his tactics but will protect yourself (and others) by KNOCKING HIM ON HIS BACKSIDE why then the bully will LEAVE YOU ALONE and go find someone else to prey upon...someone who is weak and vacillating and believes that you can bribe someone who thrives on bribes and not have him come back twice as hungry the next day!
SIDEBAR And by the way: what is a gang but a grouping of bullies together pooling their resources so they can successfully overwhelm any potential resistance? (either ruffians on the street or predatory governments like North Korea which is ruled by nothing more than a bully with a military) The solution to that is to arm yourself either individually or nationally...and if necessary form your own gang of friends or allies who will stand with you against the threat. Teddy Roosevelt put it this way: Speak softly and and carry a big stick; you will go far. This power is not to be used to forcibly subjugate others but to protect you and your friends form being forcibly subjugated by those who are the aggressors.
Think back to when Ronald Reagan stood up to the Soviet Communist bullies. Did that start World War 3? Did even one nuclear missile get launched because of the warmonger tactics? No! But in fact Reagans strong and uncompromising stand AGAINST Communist-Socialist BULLYING resulted in the COLLAPSE of the Soviet Union...without firing a shot as they used to like saying. Thats because standing up to a bully does not always require the actual use of force. Most often all you need for an adequate bully-deterrence is the CREDIBLE THREAT of force. The reason we did not have to fire missiles at the USSR is because we were capable of doing so and overwhelmingly if we chose to do it (even to the extent that the best-case scenario for the bullies would be Mutual Assured Destruction which is very simply the modern equivalent of: Give me liberty or give me death!). Because remember: The most important thing to realize about a bully is that he is in essence a COWARD and when you get in his face he will most often back down. But if he doesnt back down you just KNOCK him down! It wont be long before he scurries away for the shadows like a quivering little roach caught by surprise when you turn on the lights!
And when the time comes that you have no other option but to knock him down you do it hard and fast! You dont tie one arm behind your back which is a counterproductive and costly form of appeasement through restraint. If he leaves you no alternative but the use of force then you use it quickly and decisively with a view to rapidly inflicting the necessary damages on your adversary while minimizing your own damages losses and casualties. You owe at least that much to your allies and the fighting forces on the front lines. And if youre facing an enemy who doesnt mind losing his life in the process of seeking to destroy you (or he even considers it virtuous to die trying to murder you) why not oblige him?
And this also gives you a magnificent side benefit: all of the other potential bullies out there will think long and hard before they mess with you in the future! And what is the blissful result? A little something that the bully-appeasers will never understand: Peace through strength.
What you may ask is Peace WITHOUT strength? There is a word for thatits called Slavery.
