On Rereading HELL'S GATE

PeterZ wrote:Don, Andara is a military society. By definition they are militaristic. That does not mean they are a bunch of war mongering myrmidons aggressively seeking martial glory.

I went back into the definition of militarism in the dictionary. Your definition is included there. But I don't see it as the main one which would include the belief in expansionism and a readiness to use force as the solution to problems at one's neighbors' expense. That is what I think of when I think of as militarism and it is why the term has a negative connotation.

Don

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http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/militarism
Oxford definition
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/militarism
Merriam-Webster definition

Both these definitions fit with the way Andara is depicted in text. I tend to prefer Merriam-Webster as a rule.

n7axw wrote:

PeterZ wrote:Don, Andara is a military society. By definition they are militaristic. That does not mean they are a bunch of war mongering myrmidons aggressively seeking martial glory.

I went back into the definition of militarism in the dictionary. Your definition is included there. But I don't see it as the main one which would include the belief in expansionism and a readiness to use force as the solution to problems at one's neighbors' expense. That is what I think of when I think of as militarism and it is why the term has a negative connotation.[url][/url]

Don

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Off topic comment on your signature:

Keith_w wrote:A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

It is not the ingenuity of fools but their multiplicity. Given enough monkeys with enough typewriters, you will eventually get a line from Shakespeare...

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This looks like the lot of you are trying to say some things about the societies:

Andaran Militarism is bad...

Response: Such a society's young people with be over-enthusiastic and under-wise. Socially, their older people will balance this, making the result much more tolerable. Put them in charge and you probably get a workable, but not ideal, result.

As an element of western culture, it has an important role to play...

Mythal chauvinism is bad...

Response: This is a caricature of the political process and some of the worst aspects of traditionalism in that it condones corruption. The responsible aspects of traditionalism are largely being ignore.

This is one of the most unpleasant aspects of western culture. Unfortunately, it is a characteristic of all cultures. It makes a useful plot element but says little about how to make life more livable.

Sharonan diversity is good...

Response: This is the progressive philosophy in a nutshell. Unfortunately it takes "psychic powers" to make it work really well. In "real life", personal corrupt practices can make this real messy...

What SHOULD have happened (but didn't):

The Arcanans SHOULD have sent word "up the line" to the officers stationed at their last portal and than done an orderly withdrawal. This IS exactly what the Shanorans did and were trying to do. In other words, there really was a "correct" response both sides should have used, but that is another (boring) story.