Marshall Ganz talks about the David and Goliath story in terms of social movements.
Sometimes the person or group with fewer resources wins… http://inthesetimes.com/article/4552/why_david_sometimes_wins http://leadingchangenetwork.com/files/2012/06/Why-David-Sometimes-Wins-Strategic-Capacity-in-Social-Movements.pdf http://publicsphereproject.org/node/233 Thanks! — Doug On Sep 4, 2013, at 6:14 PM, Charles Allhands wrote: > While slingshots didn't exist, slings did (which is what the story means) and > they they do basically the same thing but using different mechanics. Slings > are very old and David certainly could have had one. > -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_%28weapon%29 > > -Charles > > > On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 5:02 AM, Christian Huldt <christ...@solvare.se> wrote: > Don't think that the story of David and Goliath had made the bible if > Goliath had had the slingshot. > > Eugen Leitl skrev 2013-08-26 21:35: > > ----- Forwarded message from Yosem Companys <compa...@stanford.edu> ----- > > > > Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 11:32:58 -0700 > > From: Yosem Companys <compa...@stanford.edu> > > To: Drones <drone-l...@lists.stanford.edu> > > Subject: [drone-list] How Not to Think About Drones, or Goliath Died for > > Your Sins > > Reply-To: drone-list <drone-l...@lists.stanford.edu> > > > > How Not to Think About Drones, or Goliath Died for Your Sins > > > > By Brian Terrell > > > > The latest defense of remote control killing by the U.S. appears in > > the September issue of The Atlantic, “The Killing Machines” > > (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/09/the-killing-machines-how-to-think-about-drones/309434/) > > in which author Mark Bowden tells us “how to think about drones.” > > Known for his bestselling book, Black Hawk Down and for his curiously > > twisted justification of torture in the same magazine in October 2003 > > (“The Bush Administration has adopted exactly the right posture on the > > matter. Candor and consistency are not always public virtues. Torture > > is a crime against humanity, but coercion is an issue that is rightly > > handled with a wink, or even a touch of hypocrisy; it should be banned > > but also quietly practiced.”) Bowden continues in this latest article > > to collect the facts that ought to lead to unequivocal condemnation of > > certain U.S. policies but cleverly presenting them in the end as > > ringing endorsements. > > > > “The Killing Machines” opens by asking us to “consider David,” and so > > Bowden initiates his attack on history by misrepresenting its earliest > > written records. “The shepherd lad steps up to face in single combat > > the Philistine giant Goliath. Armed with only a slender staff and a > > slingshot, he confronts a fearsome warrior clad in a brass helmet and > > chain mail, wielding a spear with a head as heavy as a sledge and a > > staff ‘like a weaver’s beam.’ Goliath scorns the approaching youth: > > ‘Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?’ (1 Samuel 17) > > > > “Technology has been tilting the balance of battles since Goliath > > fell,” asserts Bowden, supporting this theory by misremembering that > > “David then famously slays the boastful giant with a single smooth > > stone from his slingshot.” > > > > “What you have is a parable about technology,” says Bowden who > > describes David’s slingshot as “a small, lightweight weapon that > > employs simple physics to launch a missile with lethal force from a > > distance, was an innovation that rendered all the giant’s advantages > > moot.” > > > > The story of David and Goliath is a “parable about technology,” but > > the problems with Bowden’s telling of it begin with the fact that > > there is no slingshot in 1 Samuel 17 nor, actually, was a slingshot to > > be found anywhere on the planet in David’s day. To place one in > > David’s hands when he met Goliath 10 centuries before the Common Era > > is a wild anachronism at best. The “small, lightweight weapon that > > employs simple physics to launch a missile with lethal force from a > > distance” cited as a biblical game changer did not exist before the > > invention of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear, patented in 1884. > > The slingshot is an innovation of the 19th century and Bowden might > > just as well have had David slay Goliath with a Hellfire missile or > > with Luke Skywalker’s light-saber as give him a slingshot. > > > > David’s weapon in 1 Samuel 17 was not a slingshot but a sling. Hardly > > an innovation, the sling had already been around for a long time and > > is thought to have been invented in the Upper Paleolithic, or Old > > Stone Age, about the same time as the bow and arrow. David’s sling was > > a primitive device for flinging stones. It was widely used by > > shepherds to ward off predators, a weapon of low prestige that > > justified Goliath’s disdain. > > > > It was Goliath, not David, who with his bronze armor and iron tipped > > spear brought the latest technological innovations to his last and > > fatal conflict. David himself is recorded in 1 Samuel 17 as saying > > “All those who are gathered here shall see that the Lord saves neither > > by sword or spear,” and the message of this story is the reverse of > > the lesson Bowden offers. > > > > The story of David’s victory over Goliath is one of many in the pre > > and early monarchial biblical history wherein the latest military > > innovations are defeated by simple men, women and children improvising > > crude household and agricultural implements for use as weapons. Judges > > 4 tells of Jael, a Hebrew woman who killed Sisera, commander of “nine > > hundred chariots of iron” with a tent peg and wooden mallet. Sampson > > slaughtered a thousand armed Philistine soldiers with the jaw bone of > > a donkey (Judges 15). “When war broke out (between the Hebrews and the > > Philistines) none of the followers of Saul and Jonathan had either > > sword or spear,” we read in 1 Samuel 13, yet these insurgents armed > > with hoes, axes and shovels routed the most technically advanced army > > of the day. > > > > As drones are today, iron was literally the cutting-edge of weapons > > technology in David’s and Goliath’s time, an incalculable leap from > > the arms of wood, stone and bronze that preceded it and a decisive > > advantage to the first armies to attain it. The Philistines, as > > vassals of the Egyptian empire, had access to the latest Iron Age > > armaments, much as the U.S. and its allies today have the edge on > > drones. “No blacksmith was to be found in the whole of Israel, for the > > Philistines were determined to prevent the Hebrews from making swords > > and spears.” (1 Samuel 13) > > > > From Genesis to Revelation there can be found calls to war that are > > horrifying in their violence, but there is also a resilient strain of > > antipathy toward armaments technology in the Bible. Long before Saul > > or David, the Hebrew people were liberated when the celebrated wheels > > of iron on the chariots of the Egyptian army were mired in the mud of > > the Red Sea. (Exodus 14) Tragically, after Israel’s victory over the > > Philistines and in the pride that comes before the fall, Solomon not > > only imported the hated chariots of iron from Egypt for his own army > > but also “obtained them for export” (1 Kings 10) and so contributed to > > the ruin of his kingdom. > > > > Bowden’s presumption in “The Killing Machines” that technology is > > forever “tilting the balance of battles” in favor of the combatants > > who wield the newest lethal gadgets is disproved by the very Bible > > tale at the heart of his argument. It is also disproven by the > > succession of history from the death of Goliath to this very day. > > > > The Catholic Agitator, published by the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, > > does not have the influence of The Atlantic, but its editor Jeff > > Dietrich is an astute student of scripture, history and current events > > whose analysis is better informed than Mark Bowden’s. Writing about a > > decade and more of U.S. war in Afghanistan, Dietrich says that “in the > > process we have learned that great wealth, military might and > > technological sophistication can be humiliated by impoverished men who > > live in caves, wear rags, fight with World War II assault rifles and > > improvised explosive devices fabricated out of stolen and surplus > > munitions, and who fund their operations with the national cash crop, > > opium, which is purchased largely by impoverished, unemployed U.S. > > citizens.” > > > > The lessons for contemporary peoples in the clash of David and Goliath > > and that of Afghanistan and the United States are the same: that the > > side with the most fire-power and state-of-the-art weaponry will not > > always win. Any nation that depends on such killing machines or that > > holds them in awe, whether these weapons are drones or spearheads of > > iron, is courting its own destruction. All empires have their end and > > the perception that a nation can forestall its demise by keeping a > > technological edge or by shear violence merits the scorn of both God > > and of history. The theological word for this is idolatry. The secular > > term is stupidity. > > > > The premise of “The Killing Machine” is a distortion of one of the > > foundational stories of our culture, one found in the Koran as well as > > in the Bible. What Bowden does with David and Goliath, he does also > > with the stories from present-day Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan and > > Afghanistan. The “tacit” approval of U.S. drone strikes by Pakistan’s > > government that Bowden cites is as chimerical as David’s slingshot. > > His article twists concepts of international and constitutional law > > just as it perverts the lessons of Goliath’s demise. Bowden does > > violence to ancient and contemporary narratives that people urgently > > need to hear, stories with truths that might serve to redeem our > > humanity and even give us a shot at survival. Bowden’s counterfeit > > versions of these stories are devoid of morals. They are base > > superstitions and instead of counseling wisdom, these lying stories > > incite torture, murder and all of the foulest crimes. > > > > “Drones distill war to its essence,” says Mark Bowden. “War itself is > > terrorism,” said Howard Zinn. “War is organized crime,” said General > > Smedley Butler. Bowden’s skillfully crafted propaganda justifying > > drone warfare is no other than an attempt to give moral validation to > > the essence of terrorism and crime. > > > > Brian Terrell farms with crude implements in Iowa and a co-coordinator > > of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. On May 24 he finished a six month > > sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Yankton, South Dakota, for > > protesting the killing machines operated from Whiteman Air Force Base > > in Missouri. > > > > Contact <br...@vcnv.org> > > > > -- > > Want to unsubscribe? Want to receive a weekly digest instead of daily > > emails? Change your preferences: > > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/drone-list or email > > compa...@stanford.edu > > > > > > ----- End forwarded message ----- > > > > -- > Liberationtech is a public list whose archives are searchable on Google. > Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, > change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at > compa...@stanford.edu. > > -- > Liberationtech is a public list whose archives are searchable on Google. > Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, > change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at > compa...@stanford.edu. Douglas Schuler doug...@publicsphereproject.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Public Sphere Project http://www.publicsphereproject.org/ Creating the World Citizen Parliament http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2013/creating-the-world-citizen-parliament Liberating Voices! A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution (project) http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/lv Liberating Voices! A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution (book) http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601
-- Liberationtech is a public list whose archives are searchable on Google. Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at compa...@stanford.edu.
