Monday Morning Housekeeping

Good morning, folks! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty good, and as Triathlon Goddess and Lofy Venus can tell you, it was also very well rested. Aside from a horrible cooking accident that left me scarred - well, by "scarred", I mean "hungry" - it was pretty uneventful. For all of you bachelors out there, be sure that when you're cooking, you have a correct pasta-to-water ratio working for you.

So, no news for today, but there are a few things worth pointing out. First, if you didn't see Rebooting Fly's Life, it's worth a read, particularly if you know me personally.

I'm considering making a couple of changes around here. First, I'm thinking of changing the title of the blog to "The Fly Report". I'm also considering combining my normal post with the Fly Report, so that instead of normally posting two posts every morning, I'd only be posting one. What do you folks think? Leave me input in the comments section.

My article from yesterday, A Hero Now Rests, is also very much worth reading. I received some feedback on the introduction to the article on Friday morning, and I'm going to post it here because I'm pretty proud of my response (which was totally unscripted, and I did no review or research whatsoever). I called and read it to Professor Augustus on Friday evening, and with the exception of the word "mess", he said he completely agreed. Enjoy the read.

This comment is not about the story of the hero, but about your introduction, "A Different Form of Wall."

I feel that it is misleading to ignore two important aspects of Spartan history:

1) A major component of "their unique national philosophy" was the enslavement of the vast majority of the population (the helots). Defending it was neither more nor less heroic than defending the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

2) Sparta was largely responsible for the destruction of democracy in Athens during the Peloponnesian War.

[Reader]
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Dear [Sir],

Thanks so much for reading my article, and for taking the time to respond. I wanted to briefly address the points you made about Spartan history in your feedback E-Mail. As irony would have it, I have some background in the subject you've addressed.

First, with respect to the Spartans and the helots, I will absolutely agree that the enslavement of the helots was morally reprehensible, and when dealing specifically with Spartan history it's important to address that point - as the article in question was generally related to national security, and specifically related to LCDR Ralph Bisz, I omitted that information. You will probably have noted that I made a specific point of saying that the Spartan nation was "imperfect", and while that imperfection also encompasses the nominal abandonment of culture in favor of security, the main thrust of that statement was a veiled reference to slavery in ancient Laconia. I think that the comparison of Sparta's defense to the defense of the Confederate States of America may be a bridge too far, as slavery (in a much more mild form than that which was seen in the Confederacy) was practiced throughout the world at that time, and is arguably still practiced in some areas today. I am in no way condoning any form of human servitude, but comparing Confederate slavery to ancient/Spartan slavery is very much an "apples and oranges" case.

I think you may have also given the Athenians a bit too much credit. Not only did the Athenians also keep slaves, but their "democracy" restricted the franchise to male citizens. Also, even though we could probably find a lot of use for it here in the modern United States, the Athenian practice of "ostracism" allowed for at least one citizen a year to be exiled for no real reason and to no real end, for a decade (one notable example being that of Aristides the Just). As much as progressive historians like to build Athens up as a sort of model of peace and democracy, particularly when compared to "militaristic" Rome, Athens was essentially the same slave-holding, misogynistic, pederasty-encouraging mess that Sparta was. In addition, the Athenians were actually the ones who precipitated the Peloponnesian War by extorting money out of their financially and politically subservient neighbors for the purpose of the "Delian League", which was comparable to the United States forcing each and every last member of the United Nations to pony up cash to buy and maintain American frigates and destroyers. Not exactly the "democratic" picture of Athens that historians often paint.

Again, I appreciate your feedback, and if you have any further thoughts on the subject, or on any of my other articles at FSM, I would wholeheartedly welcome them.

Respectfully,
The Fly
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[The Fly],

Thanks for your quick and lucid response.

I'm glad that you understand the subtleties of the subject-I'm sure to a greater degree than I do. Your analysis of both Spartan and Athenian cultures, and their clash, agrees with what I know. We need to be inspired by the best of the past, and determined to rise above its faults.

I also realize that an introductory analogy in limited space cannot be expected to go into this level of detail. But the compression made it seem somewhat misleading to me. You can't please everyone all of the time.

Regards,

[Reader]

Have a great day, folks, and check back tomorrow.