ROE Make all the Difference

Whenever you enter any kind of conflict of any kind, one of the most important things you can have is a clear understanding of the Rules Of Engagement (ROE).  Those who are unfamiliar with this military term would do well to learn a bit about it, since the concept easily translates into any argument, disagreement, or situation in the civilian world and can be quite useful.

Simply put, ROE are a set of guidelines that control behavior and options when interacting with others who are combative or competitive.  They act as a collection of high-level instructions that control and organize actions and reactions.  They draw lines in the sand that prevent certain responses unless the other guy steps across the boundary.

Most people, whether they realize it or not, have internal ROE.  If we had absolutely no ROE, then our actions would be 100% unpredictable, and we wouldn't have any sense of restraint at all.  Many violent criminals suffer from a lack of ROE - without ROE guiding their actions, they respond in ways that many others see as "unwarranted", "excessive", or "over the top" - and then they go to jail.  (Or they are featured as pointy-nosed cartoon characters.)

I was thinking today about the irony that liberals accuse conservatives of being violent thugs who long for combat and civil disorder, while the vast majority of such unfortunate behavior has come and currently comes from their side of the political aisle both here and around the world.  And it's not just those at the heads of governments and organizations that roll that way, but individuals!  It's really annoying and it is going to lead to several unfortunate consequences...

Most liberals do not feel that history has anything to teach them - that they have risen above "those old-fashioned guys" and know better ways of doing things.  This means they are more apt to live with very wide and very shallow ROE.  This is why you get such rapid and unwarranted escalation at the hands of those on the left during rallies and protests - they don't know how far they should go and they're just making it up as they go along.  And afterwards, they justify their bad behavior by one means or another, or more commonly, they just act as if it never happened.

The left has been complaining during the past few years that conservatives are talking about violent confrontation with the government or secession and use such talk as a proof that we are knuckle-dragging throwbacks to some earlier period of human biology.  They are completely wrong in this judgement, however.  We are merely following our ROE.  You see, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States form the ROE of many conservatives.  They form the backbone of my own ROE, personally.  These two documents spell out where the lines in the sand should be drawn before the people have a duty to fight tyrants.  Not an option, but a duty - read it for yourself.

The only reason why more folks on my side of the political spectrum are talking about physically resisting the government is because the level of tyranny being forced upon the people is creeping closer to that line in the sand.  We would be negligent not to start warning the tyrants and planning their downfall.  After all, by our ROE, we are justified in violent response only after all other avenues have been explored.  And thankfully, that's ongoing.

This is why you are hearing a lot about pending violence erupting from those crazy right-wingers, but not much of anything in the way of concrete examples.  Why is that, you say?  Simple.  We have firm ROE and the line hasn't been crossed yet.  This stuff is not a threat.  No more than someone telling you that if you jump into the lake you're going to get wet is a threat.  Just a fact of nature, and it's baked into our very bones.  Honestly, I pray it doesn't come to this, but if it does my path, and the path of many other conservatives, is crystal clear.

Unfortunately, those on the left don't seem to understand the playbook we're taking our orders from.  Like most people, they think that everyone else is just like them and that they also have a wide, shallow set of instructions for how to react to situations.  This misunderstanding on their part will likely result in them being absolutely stunned, confused, and amazed at the "sudden shift" in tactics which is bound to occur when they finally do step over the line in the sand.

I'd feel bad for them, except I make it a point not to feel anything but contempt for tyrants and those who support them.