Sheep, Wolves & Sheepdogs

xpun8

Inactive
I search here first to see if it had been posted before. I received it from a friend today for the first time. I remember some students protesting a memorial to UW grad Greg "Pappy" Boyington.
Anyway, I'm relatively new to THR, with it being fouled up I came here. There was a thread or two about people posting info on the THR outage last week here at TFL. This is my first post so be gentle, I know it's long. :) A good read if you've never read it before.

Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs...good read

Gen. Dula's letter to the University of Washington student senate leader.

To: Edwards, Jill (student, UW)
Subject: Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

Miss Edwards, I read of your 'student activity' regarding the proposed
Memorial to Col. Greg Boyington, USMC and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect
You will receive a bellyful of angry e-mails from conservative folks like
Me. You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations
Of servicemen and service women on whose shoulders you and your fellow
Students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your
naiveté.

It may be that you are, simply, a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a
Sheep - - as long as you know and accept what you are. Please take a couple
Of minutes to read the following. And be grateful for the thousands - -
Millions - - of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express
Even bad ideas.

Brett Dula
Sheepdog, retired
----------------------------------------------------------
ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS

By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER,
P.H.D., author of "On Killing."

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so
Because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things
That deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that
May mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as
Always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending?
What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in
A lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of
The people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive
Creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true.
Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated
Assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast
Majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.

Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes
Every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of
Violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that
The odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in
A hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are
Committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is
Considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We
May well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still
Remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who
Are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme
Provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me, it is like the pretty,
Blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into
Something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.

Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and
Someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful.
For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
To be Continued...
 
Sheep, Wolves & Sheepdogs (Continued)

...Continued
"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed
On the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who
Will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil
Men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget
That or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in
Denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to
Protect the flock and confront the wolf."

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive
Citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for
Your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf.

But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your
Fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who
Is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness,
Into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves,
And sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes
them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world.
They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire
extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their
kids' schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer
in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be
killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's
only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone
coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the
path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf.
He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that
the sheepdog must not, cannot, and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep
dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and
removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a
representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there
are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to
go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in
camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the
sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa." Until
the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind
one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high
school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had
the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had
nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT
teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically
peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs
feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on
the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently
about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how
many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it
is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny
critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the
breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a
righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle.
The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound
of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend
the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the
attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in
America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs,
the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those
planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly
transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into
warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he
does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to
survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the
population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of
violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of
violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast
majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language:
Slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their
victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd
that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically
primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose
which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans
are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored
in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on
Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an
operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the
other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his
phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a
signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one
hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business
people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the
wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of
evil men. - Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize; especially to the thousands of police
officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep,
are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They
didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can
be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you
must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved
ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If
you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt
you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you
want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a
conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare
yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes
knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well
concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters
tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of
religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your
congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual
in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your
loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break,
one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other
cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why
he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was
at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a
mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning
down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved
every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot,
and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die.
That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it
would be to live with yourself after that?"
To Be Continued (again)...
 
Sheep, Wolves & Sheepdogs (Continued)

...Continued
Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was
carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably
scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for
"heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were
defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids'
school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic
accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their
response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks
himself, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if
your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there
helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically
destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is
counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and
horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you
are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train.
Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills
you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are
psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your
moment of truth.

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book,
which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our
current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an
insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by
saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all
the more unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small
print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some
level. And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of
his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.

If you are a warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you
step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that
the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime.
Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and
you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to
yourself..."Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It
is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a
continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other
end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the
other.

Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America
took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps
toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started
taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that
continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and
your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment
of truth.
Aren't you glad you hung in there and read it all?

Peace
 
An interesting perspective. But I would add another characteristic to the description of the "sheep": They will always obey the edicts of their ruling masters (the politicians), no matter how wrong and unconstitutional those laws are.

I also think a better description for many (but not all) of the "sheepdogs" is "attack dogs." These are the attack dogs of the politicians, and they'll try to confiscate our guns or take our other fundamental liberties as soon as they are ordered to do so. The only motivation they need is excitement, an ego trip, and a paycheck -- not to mention confidence that few of the sheep will resist them. We saw that after Katrina in New Orleans.
 
xpun8,

If you like that, you will also like the writings of Bill Whittle. He has a piece called Tribes that mentions the same "Sheep, Sheepdog, Wolf" writings of Lt. Colonel Grossman.

His page is Eject! Eject! Eject!

www.ejectejecteject.com
 
Steelcore,
Funny you say that about the sheepdogs, that is very close to what my buddy and I added. A third person said that the sheepdogs have had different levels of training and somewhat differing views about the sheep. Some sheepdogs think they were born that way and the sheep can't become sheepdogs.

I think there are different or varying degrees of all three. Some sheep, my wife a few years ago for instance, didn't even realize the need for a personal sheepdog. Once she realized that she lost interest in being a sheep and wanted to "evolve" into a sheepdog. Wolves are the same, some will only prey on the young, week or ill and others have no regard for life in general and will attack anything knowing full well that their end is now.
 
Then you have wolf-dogs, which are hybrids of the sheepdog and the wolf. Possessing the strengths of both and none of the weaknesses. Though they have no master(farmers/leaders), they know that preying upon sheep is bad. They also know that the farmer fears this him, as he isn't easily tricked into doing the bidding of the farmer. Many fear the wolf-dog as he is hard to understand and will not be tamed as easily. The wolf-dog loves freedom more than a safe dog house and a full bowl of dog food. Praise isn't sought by the wolf-dog, as freedom in nature is his reward. ;)
 
Unfortunately the sheepdog analogy falls flat on its face.
A sheepdog who attacked a sheep for any reason Mistake or not would be put down.
No sheepdog could ever get away with the idea that he owed no service to individual flock members just to the flock as a whole.
Sheepdogs do not treat sheep like wolves until they can prove otherwise.
No sheepdog would ever seek to protect another dog who attacked a sheep.
All of these behaviors are common in the "Law Enforcement" community.

Jefferson
I am NOT a sheep, I just prefer not to show my fangs until I need them
 
It is an overly simplified analogy that was written for a police and military audience initially for which it does have some relevance, but does not convert well to the general public. It fails to take into account that the sheep are inprisoned slaves that will be slaughtered sooner or later and being repeatedly robbed by the shepherd of their fleeces, the only real issue being whether they are killed for the shepherd's desires or for the wolves' desires. It could have well been entitled "On those awaiting execution, sheriffs, and lynch mobs."

Anyway you look at it, the sheep are awaiting execution. The question is whether the sheepdog sheriff will protect them from the lynch mob wolves or not, and if so for how long that the shepherd can shear them against their will. This is where things break down quite a bit. The general population in our society isn't awaiting execution.
 
I usually use the animal analogy of jackals or coyotes or even hyenas, rather than wolves, for the two-legged predators out there. For while wolves actually have a community of sorts and respect leadership qualities, (watch video of a pack, you can see who the alpha is quite easily) jackals tend to be scrawny things that slink around in the shadows, are opportunistic scavengers, and ambush some prey that's wandered off from its herd.

Which is pretty much what criminals do.

Probably works better for most in the mainstream, too. Wolves are "cool" enough to be used as decor items and are on office-leadership posters...who hasn't seen the ones with the alpha standing majestically on a precipice with a pack behind them?

But everyone still sees a pack of laughing, biting hyenas or a slinking jackal as something to be avoided.
 
This is one of the most anti-2A screed I have ever read. According to this person's worldview, most people are sheep and ought to let the sheepdogs defend them from the wolves. Our country's FFs did NOT want a nation of sheep. They wanted a nation of free, informed, and self-reliant humans. The 2A makes every one of us our own guardian. Sure, there are benefits to society of having laws and enforcement, but the job of the police is to bring criminals to justice for the collective good, not for the individual. Laws protect commerce and economic values. We are on our own for our individual safety.
 
One of the "most" anti-2A? You haven't read some of the crap I've read then.
I believe I understand what you're saying though. I agree our FF didn't want a country full of sheep, however I think you'll agree that it's evolved to that. Every member of society should be a sheepdog, the sheep would be made up of the young, old and infirm. What has caused our society to evolve towards being made up of sheep, while the only sheepdogs are a few citizens, the military and "law enforcement"? You may not want to agree with everything the author says, but it does provoke thought. Did it make you angry that it sounds like the only sheepdogs are people "commissioned" to be?
 
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I think some people are reading to much into this, it just experess a point and it clarifies itself pretty well.

Malone LaVeigh, most people either refuse to defend themselves or refuse to recognize the threats out there.

Besides not all sheep are eaten, some are sheared, look pretty funny for a while too after it is done.
 
"What has caused our society to evolve towards being made up of sheep, while the only sheepdogs are a few citizens, the military and "law enforcement"?" xpun8

Government education would be the culprit. When one is taught in school that you are not to fight back under any circumstances, it becomes a part of your psychological make up. The other problem would be the lack of critical thinking, which could be taught in government schools as well. When a person doesn't have problem solving skills they only end up with problems and no solutions. Understanding these things is nothing more than common sense to me. Thank the government for allowing the general populace to be dumbed down. It is much easier to control people when they haven't a clue as to what has been done to them. One day America will understand this, hopefully it will be sooner than later, if it isn't too late already.
 
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