Scott Ritter: Waging Peace - Chapter One: Novosibirsk - Finishing the Moment Archived Message Posted by sashimi on July 23, 2023, 1:10 pm 22 Jul 2023 I often joke about being "a simple Marine." They say that within every joke, there is an element of truth, and the fact is, upon reflection, it is in my essence to be "a simple Marine," someone who has stripped away the complexities and contradictions of life in pursuit of a singular goal, which is service to my nation, my fellow citizens, and humanity at large. The problem is, life isn't that simple, and we are a product of our existence, our experiences, both individually and collectively. I was gifted with an inquiring mind, one that seeks answers beyond the fact-driven questions of who, what, and where, and instead focuses on why and how. The answers to these last two queries often assume a philosophical bent, and to prepare myself for the intellectual journey involved, I often turn to those who have been blessed with the gift of putting into words the ideas that best define life. In college, between playing football and drinking beer, I threw myself into the pursuit of academia with the urgency of a young man who wrestled every day with the dichotomy that emerged from recognizing the need for preserving the freedoms that make life as an American so precious, and the necessity of laying down one's own life so others might live to enjoy for themselves the American bounty. I was a history major, and my passion for that subject drew me close to the faculty who taught me. In my senior year, they all were aware that, upon graduation, I would be taking my commission as an Officer of Marines. While they respected my patriotism, none of them were happy with my decision (most had gone through the Vietnam-era firmly on the side of the anti-war protesters), and we spent many hours discussing life in general, and the role conflict played in world history, and the consequences of such. One professor in particular, Dr. Sam Allen, sought to impress upon me the error of my ways. Dr. Allen taught Russian history and, as a Russian history major, he had mentored my intellectual development throughout my entire time in college. He was my academic advisor for my honors thesis, a two-year project the resulted in a 350-page manuscript exploring the Tsarist roots of modern Soviet military thought. We spent hours discussing the seeming contradiction of intellectual curiosity and military service, drawing upon the vast examples which could be extracted from Russian history and literature. Seeing that he was making little progress trying to convince me of the wisdom of his position by relying on Russian sources, Dr. Allen instead turned to an American writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. He handed me a copy of Emerson's book, Essays and Lectures. He had placed a slip of paper between the pages of the book, with a hand-written note: "Read this. May it help guide you." I opened the book to where the slip of paper was placed, and found Emerson's essay, "Experience." As I turned the pages, I came across a passage that had been underlined, with a hand-written notation in the margin written in the labored script that was the trademark of Dr. Allen. "What value does five minutes hold for you? An hour?" "To finish the moment," the passage read, "to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom." Previous Message It is not the part of men, but of fanatics, or of mathematicians, if you will, to say, that, the shortness of life considered, it is not worth caring whether for so short a duration we were sprawling in want, or sitting high. Since our office is with moments, let us husband them. Five minutes of today are worth as much to me, as five minutes in the next millennium. Let us be poised, and wise, and our own, today. Dr. Allen and I did not discuss the issue of my joining the Marine Corps after that. A few weeks later, I walked across the stage on graduation day, wearing the dress white uniform of Marine Officer, and accepted my diploma. Dr. Allen was there to shake my hand and offer his congratulations. I could see in his eyes that he believed I had made the wrong choice. -- Cont'd at https://www.scottritterextra.com/p/waging-peace-in-search-of-the-russian-2b2 Message Thread: Scott Ritter: Waging Peace - Chapter One: Novosibirsk - Finishing the Moment - sashimi July 23, 2023, 1:10 pm   Searching