Tag Archives: enemies

A divine absence

Because it is a background virtue, humility (derived from the Latin for ‘low’) is best described in terms of what it isn’t. It isn’t ambitious, holds no opinions, declines to judge, has no enemies, does nothing unnecessarily, is unconcerned with image, doesn’t need notes.

Dr. Strangelove

Counter-phobic fear—fear that looks like anger but isn’t—needs enemies to rationalize its own existence. When enemies are needed, enemies are everywhere. Sometimes a whole country is our enemy. Nation-scaled enemies goose our economies. It costs US$3 million to build a Patriot Missile.