> > Yeah. If all you know is simple platitudes that you've been taught since you were little -- "War is wrong"; "violence never solved anything" -- and you can't seem to actually think for yourself, you end up like your friend, with no real grasp on what life is really like.
>
> Actually, *I* think that way, and I also think by myself. And guess what! It WORKS in my life.

Clearly it does not, if you honestly believe that "violence never solved anything." Violence has solved all sorts of things. It is generally (and rightly) viewed as a last resort, but this doesn't mean it's not effective.

I hate to always have to bring up World War II, but it's such an effective example because it's a famous instance where violence did in fact solve the problem of Hitler's Germany. No, it didn't retroactively prevent the Holocaust, but I know of no solutions, non-violent or otherwise (short of a flux capacitor), that would have done so.

The problem with ideas like "War is wrong," is that there are clearly situations where war was the best course of action, and was in fact justified. A better saying would be something like, "War should be avoided when better solutions exist," but that's not quite so catchy.

Stephen