Are you for or against capital punishment? Whichever you are, I’m sure it won’t decide whether you are for or against people who hold the opposite view. You may not like the way they express themselves – or ‘demonstrate’ as we seem to have to call it today. You may think they are a bit watery-brained for the views they hold but I hope you won’t hate them for those views. Hating anyone is an indictment of the person who hates, not of the hated. And hating a point of view makes you as daft as a brush.
Civilisation is the process of becoming more socially and culturally advanced. What does that mean in terms of behaviour? We treat each other politely and teach ourselves to appreciate the beauty around us. When there isn’t too much politeness or beauty we work to improve them. The great developments of humankind are enabled by civilised behaviour. Uncivilised behaviour creates lack of discipline, anarchy and war.
Does that mean that we should always be agreeable and gentle? No, it does not. Prevention of disaster sometimes demands pre-emptive action which can be tough. The officer who shot some fellow soldiers trapped beneath the slowly descending live coals of a steam railway engine tipped upside down in an accident was technically committing murder*. What he did was an act of mercy. He wasn’t taking sides. He was doing what he thought was right at the time. Those who think he should not have done so are entitled to their views. But not to hate.
For pre-emptive action to be effective we must forecast correctly. Forecasting demands risk-taking and depends on a measure of luck. At present we are all forecasting the danger of WWIII with the likely nuclear involvement that will entail. Our focus is being blurred by the issue of ‘whose side we are on’. Anyone who lived through the time of the holocaust will know the incredible wickedness of the events. Anyone who knows societies with nuclear capabilities will appreciate the dangers of any volatile society in possession of such armaments.
Being on either ‘side’ in the present situation is ridiculous since neither is conceivably ‘right’. All we can do is make the best forecast we can of what, if any, pre-emptive action will prevent – or at least delay – the worst conclusion. Trade is not always the best political leader but trade began the process of globalization. It was then systematically unwound by aggressive military action and precious political precautions. It should have been allowed to proceed.
Thinking media have wisely shunned taking sides in the current contretemps. As one of my early mentors advised me “Better to know the outcome before you confidently predict it”. I only wish we did.
Edward Luce described the present situation as Pandora’s Box. I cannot gainsay that. But I think Pandora’s Box is opened by the moderates in any society who don’t vote in an election. ‘X’ expresses your responsible view.
The absence of ‘X’ expresses your irresponsibility.
But I don’t hate you for it.
Good morning
John Bittleston
*A train crash involving five trains at Quintinshill, Gretna Green, Scotland on 22nd May 1915 killed 226 people. My father, a Naval Officer, was taking some sailors to Scotland for training. There were a great many soldiers in one of the trains. My father and his sailors assisted the wounded.
He was approached by a young soldier officer who was accompanying a platoon, also for training. Five soldiers were trapped under the firebox of an upturned steam engine. They could see, and increasingly feel, the live fire coals that were above them. These coals were slipping towards them and they were screaming with fear as they realised they would be slowly burnt to death.
The soldier officer quickly discussed the situation with my father and they agreed to the course of action. My father moved all the people nearby away and the soldier officer shot the five men.
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28 Jun 2025
