Most in the west don’t understand fanaticism because their entire life is devoted to avoiding pain.
From Fed preventing losses in their investments, to wanting a pill to solve an illness instead of enduring the discipline at exercising, to not missing a meal, to being able to go without air conditioning or hot water.
People who spend their entire life avoiding normal everyday volatility will never understand the expense and dedication required to win against those who live long volatility as a lifestyle.
And that is what fanaticism is at its heart, it is taking upfront pain for a potential reward in the future. It is the very definition of long vol. Which is why most in the modern west don’t understand it.
They can’t even stand a 20% drop in their Vanguard account. The Houthi Commanders stepping up and leading their men know a missile could drop out of the sky and kill them at any moment.
A Vanguard virgin and a battle-hardened Houthi Commander aren’t even the same species of men. I don’t think our modern democracy is willing to pay the price necessary to make these guys stop.
They stop if 1) we give them what they want which we won’t do since we support Israel or 2) break their will so they see doing what we want as less painful than continued resistance.
We won’t do the first because of how strong the Israeli lobby is in the US and we can’t do the second in our current form as a country.
Not enough people that are committed to what it would take. We can’t even let banks fail without a bailout, we’re going to win against the Houthis? Don’t think so.
So since we aren’t really going to commit to the level required to win, no point in doing it at all I think. But I may as well be speaking a foreign language talking about this to some. They want to watch military montages to AC/DC and feel good while not taking any personal pain, so ok.
Fanaticism is derided in the west and completely overlooked as the strategic asset it can be in wartime. Muslims are fanatics about defending their faith. Chinese are fanatics about simply being Chinese. These are hard, and expensive, things to overcome. See Iraq, Afghanistan etc
— chris repke (@Chris_Repke) February 22, 2024
