High Ground

Stolen entire from The Othosphere 

There is “High Ground” and High Ground by JMSmith

“At this point I have no lingering interest at all in the ‘high ground’. This is war, and we should do what we can to win, rather than do only what we may, and lose.” 

Malcolm Pollack, Comment at Maverick Philosopher.com  (Feb. 28, 2024)

“Every exertion of physical force if made upwards is more difficult than if it is made in the contrary direction.” 

Carl von Clausewitz, On War (1832)

There is in war ‘high ground’ and high ground, the former most useful as a source of consolation after defeat, the later most useful as a means to clobber the enemy with fire and steel.  “High ground” is occupied by what Sam Francis called “beautiful losers,” high ground by scruffy roughnecks who are not too good to win.  Francis said American conservatives lost, albeit beautifully, because they had thought to win political battles with their erudition and eloquence, and so, through a long string of defeats, had assumed “that it was only a matter of time before their own beliefs would creep up on the Left, slit their throats in the dark, and stage an intellectual and cultural coup d’état, after which truth would reign.”

An old adage tells us that “fine words butter no parsnips,” and to this we might add that fine words also slit no throats. Conservatives boast that they are students of history, but seem not to have reflected on the fate of Cicero, that giant of erudition and eloquence.  He orated and wrote until, at last, his severed head and hands (which had written so beautifully) were nailed up in the Roman forum, after which his silver tongue was cut out and stabbed with a pin.

Erudition and eloquence are not enough.  And neither is sportsmanship when one’s opponent fights dirty and the referees have been bought.  What we require is high ground, where the laws of nature will be on our side.

In war, Clausewitz tells us, high ground (he calls it a “commanding position”) confers three advantages.  A downhill shot is more likely to reach its mark.  Climbing a hill is hard, even where there is no storm of fire and steel.  Those occupying the high ground always have “the better view.”

In Malcolm Pollack’s “war,” a “commanding position” is an office of political, institutional, or cultural power.  To make our shots into “downhill shot,” we must present our arguments with erudition and eloquence, but also with more tangible—some might say cruder—inducements for others to see their merit.  To make our enemy’s charge into an “uphill charge,”  we must make it painful and costly to speak against our side or our beliefs (we can go back to free speech when our enemies go back to free speech).  To make our view “the better view,” we must look much, much farther into the future.  We must certainly look beyond the next election, and should probably look beyond all elections conducted after the present form.

As Clausewitz wrote,

“No army can maintain itself in the valley of a great river if it is not in possession of the heights on either side by which the valley is formed.”