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But even Rubashov, prisoner, tortured, is caught up in the
system with a "twisted sense of duty which forced him to
remain awake and continue the lost battle to the end." The
important thing is that death is not an option under those
circumstances. It takes a violent act to break the flow.
Unity over self is necessary. You can always do better in
the short run alone, but you need one another to maximize the
overall advantage. Read the prisoner's dilemma and subsequent
references on page 155 of Ethics by J.L. Mackie.

My solution in the "Land [world] of Epicetetus" is unity over
self and compassion because it is neither Christian or
American to nag a repentant sinner to his grave.

Mike Walzer was born in New York City in 1935, had a
Harvard PhD at 26, teaches ethical and legal philosophy at
Harvard. During the Vietnam War he wrote a series of essays
on disobedience, war, citizenship, and we have Chapter 7 on
POW's. He quotes the many jurists of the international law
field of the 19th Century, who considered POW's "citizens of
the world" -- that is to say not at war. And that the rules
of benevolent quarantine replace those of "battle." Now, he
laments, with a code of conduct the poor POW just not only
face his captors but must look over his shoulder at his own
country. It is an unwarranted infringement he thinks, in that
it has positive commitments -- that is to say, you must harrass,

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