by Brandon J. Snider
by Brandon J. Snider
“I have already alluded to the difference hitherto existing between regiments of men associated for purposes of violence, and for purposes of manufacture; in that the former appear capable of self-sacrifice – the latter, not.”
~ John Ruskin, Unto This Last, 1862
This was the view of one of the 19th century’s most prominent and influential leftists. Ruskin goes on to say that “the soldier’s trade, verily and essentially, is not slaying, but being slain.” It isn’t the natural danger of being killed in battle that has Ruskin mesmerized. One can be killed doing almost anything. It is the fact that the soldier “holds his life at the service of the State.” Service. This is Ruskin’s euphemism for being a hired killer.
