Barbarians At the Gates?

Instapundit is carrying an interesting discussion about how civilized societies fight barbarians - with Al Quaeda and the Islamofascists filling the role of barbarians.

Glenn Reynolds (the Instapundit )says:

Civilized societies have always won against barbarians ever since the industrial revolution made making things a greater source of power than breaking them.

Civilized societies have found it harder, though, to beat the barbarians without killing all, or nearly all, of them. Were it really to become all-out war of the sort that Osama and his ilk want, the likely result would be genocide -- unavoidable, and provoked, perhaps, but genocide nonetheless, akin to what Rome did to Carthage, or to what Americans did to American Indians. That's what happens when two societies can't live together, and the weaker one won't stop fighting -- especially when the weaker one targets the civilians and children of the stronger. This is why I think it's important to pursue a vigorous military strategy now.

Another correspondent on Instapundit says

The new barbarians, like those of old, consist of groups in which every member is a potential warrior."

It seems to me that a part of the defense against these "barbarians" is to make every (or least most) members of our society a potential warrior by expanding concealed carry rights and allowing people to carry guns as a matter of course. I say this as a person who cannot be considered a gun nut. I am not a hunter, I've never been an NRA member and I have only minimal experience with guns. For a long time I supported gun control, but no longer. Now I am seriously considering purchasing a gun and getting trained to use it properly.

The writer makes a good point - one of many reasons to support shall-issue reform in Minnesota and elsewhere. But if indeed we face total war against barbarians at the gates, perhaps we should learn a lesson from other nations - our contemporaries - who've faced their own gathering hordes of barbarians; the Israelis, surrounded by enemies bent on their destruction; Norway, facing a Soviet threat alone, high above the arctic circle; and Switzerland, which has maintained its integrity for 400 years on a continent where independence has been maintained at a premium.

I'm talking about National Service.

Posted by Mitch at November 19, 2002 02:45 PM