In part my views are colored by Byzantine history. The Byzantines would do what today we would call a cost-benefit analysis whenever they were threatened by a nomadic tribe. Usually, the leader of the tribe would show up on the Imperial frontier and say something like "Pay me 10,000 gold coins or I will attack you". The Byzantines would then try and determine how much a campaign against the threatening tribe would cost. If it cost more than the demand, they would declare the tribe an ally and pay (with the understanding the tribe would defend the Empire from those that pay beyond). If the cost of the campaign was less than the request, the Byzantines would crush the impudent tribe. While one can argue that paying Danegeld only encourages others, the truth is that the Byzantines were for their entire history beset on all sides, and they had to choose their wars carefully. In the same way, had Franco threatened Britain in 1948, I am sure the British (even Clement Atlee), without the pressure of fighting Germany, would have reacted differently. Anthony My Blog "Towards the government I feel no scruples and would dodge paying the tax if I could. Yet I would give my life for England readily enough, if I thought it necessary. No one is patriotic about taxes." -- George Orwell, Wartime Diary, September 8, 1940.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [email protected]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Re: [ChurchillChat] Re: bribesDate: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:53:17 +0000 I have to agree ... with Anthony ... if this is true then money well spent ... _________________________________________________________________ Stay organized with simple drag and drop from Windows Live Hotmail. http://windowslive.com/Explore/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_102008 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ChurchillChat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
