A Bit of Foolishness: Pipe Smoking and World Peace

[mso489]

If most people smoked pipes, peace would dominate the world. All the world's people would be sufficiently concerned about not having their pipes and pipe racks blown to bits, their quiet time interrupted by annoying bomb blasts, and their necessary pipe-smoking anatomy mutilated, that war would be unthinkable. The idea of delicious tobaccos like Syrian Latakia being disrupted by shabby devastating warfare would make everyone cringe. Sometimes it is those little spurs that remind people to talk-talk rather than war-war, and have a nice bowl of Balkan blend (or whatever they like) as they settle things.

 

[Olkofri]

Nah, we'd still find something to disagree and quarrel about. Soon we'd have the English blenders using their pipes to beat the aros over the head.

 

[mso489]

Why does peace always seem so imaginary? Human nature I suppose.

 

[seldom]

 

[mso489]

seldom, isn't that General George and our old friend Joseph? Well, you make a valid point. Ah, but it's that there are just not enough pipe smokers. You can't expect the generals and dictators to plug for peace; they're not likely to end up under fire. Although General George did, adamantly.

 

[Olkofri]

Fallen human nature, in very deed.
Some of the best people in history have been pipe smokers, as have been some of the worst.
Funny, they have this plaque on display in the Deutsches Historische Museum in Berlin, about someone who'd been fully approved by the FDA:

 

[brian64]

If most people smoked pipes

The Cobs vs Briars would be Armageddon. Only devotees of the White Goddess would be capable of true peace.

 

[yuda]

@olkofri

I hope I don't have to be counted among either group, I smoke a pipe to help with my peace and quiet. :lol:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

It's a nice thought, MSO, but unfortunately the world (and mankind) doesn't work that way. As long as someone has something someone else wants, there will be war. As long as hate, greed, envy, lust, etc., remains in this world, there will be war.

 

[rmpeeps]

Foolishness indeed!

I’ve seen a few pipes I’d be willing to beat somebody senseless for.

 

[warren]

People killing other people? It's simply part of natural makeup of humans. Ergo, such is the reason humans had to come up with "moral" values, laws, religions, cops, armies, and all the other accouterments of so-called civilized society. Humans, as a class, are not very nice except, to family/tribe members and even that can go sideways now and then. It's living quietly side by side that is unnatural, hence the ever present tension in life.
As we all know, a pipe in the jaw is simply not an indicator that the smoker is a decent, well-socialized member of the human race.

 

[aldecaker]

Yep, no one takes human nature into account as the immutable constant that it is. That's why communism is a dismal failure in actual practice, and the silly hippie communes of the 60s and 70s all imploded into backbiting and animosity. They couldn't even stay afloat with the regular infusions of welfare money they cheated working society out of by keeping their hippie women pregnant all the time. (Full disclosure: Even though my above statements are factual, I am biased in that I do not care for Communists or hippies.)

 

[warren]

I will point out, yet again, General MacArthur was one of the highest decorated soldiers of WWI. He was highly esteemed and more than one soldier referred to him as one of the bravest when leading his men out of the trenches. Pershing denied him a Medal of Honor simply because Pershing though that medal should be reserved for enlisted personnel. He was also denied a CMH for a feat in Mexico because the war there wasn't "declared."
MacArthur was very much like his friend Patton in that getting injured or killed was simply part of the war, nothing to fear, it just is.

 

[aldecaker]

Fascinating fellow, that MacArthur. Like anyone, he wasn't perfect by any stretch, but he sure was the type of guy we could use at the time.

 

[Waning Embers]

Tobacco has always been about nicotine absorption. The image of the peaceful pipe smoker is fairly modern as I have seen more images of soldiers and heated office disputes with folks with pipes in their jaws. For me, a pipe is just one of the ways I choose to consume tobacco. Whether working, reading, or doing other interests, a pipe is in my jaw just because it's what I do.

 

[mikethompson]

I have thought the the image of the contemplative pipe smoker has been around for a while. Personally, I don't care for the nicotine content in my blends, and look for flavours. I also like the pipe itself, the lines of the briar or the weight of it in my hand.
Now would there be world peace if everyone were like me? Probably not.
MSO, the diverse personalities on this forum should show you that while we all share the same hobby, we are all different, and smoke pipes for different reasons.

 

[Waning Embers]

the diverse personalities on this forum should show you that while we all share the same hobby, we are all different, and smoke pipes for different reasons.

+1

 

[warren]

Again with the generalities, for some it's a hobby. For others, myself included, smoking is how I keep my nicotine level up. Still others make a living or at least augment income by catering to the smokers and the hobbyists. Smoking for me is a vice, possibly an addiction. There also exists a group I refer to as "dabblers." Dabblers are the members who resent being called a smoker, partake of maybe a bowl or two a week, deny enjoying the nicotine kick (no matter how small). Still another classification, since we seem to need to sort ourselves and others into manageable groupings, I'd call the "obsessives." These members buy and store tobaccos, terrified of losing out, having their comfort zone adversely impacted or ... possibly hoping to cash-in on blends which are no longer to be available.
Me? I'm a smoker. I simply enjoy nicotine. My "compulsion" or vice, could hardly fit the definition of "hobby."

 

[kola]

Hmm, maybe those savage, hostile, uncivilized, First Nation People (aka"Indians") were onto something with their sacred Peace Pipes. OTOH, they weren't the "perfect" race either.
Peace? Real Peace? There's no profit in Peace. So we won't see it for anytime soon. If ever..
All humans are still primitive savages and killing other living things is the norm. Killing is embraced by most, widely accepted and rewarded as well. An odd disturbing species we are, IMHO.

 

[mso489]

This thread has gone off in interesting directions despite its starry eyed premise. We collectively do have to have enough peaceful inclinations to avoid exterminating the human species and a bunch of other species with ourselves. That's the evolutionary on-off switch now.