The first bit of poetry your Eyewitness learnt was actually a “nursery rhyme”, but he remembers it as oh so violent, thank you!! “Piggy on the train line picking up stones/up came an engine and MASHED piggy bones/Oh said Piggy, that’s not fair!!/ Oh said the engine, I don’t care!!” The lesson your (young) Eyewitness learned was later (in his readings!!) summarised by Thucydides, the Ancient Greek historian: “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.
The thought came to his mind when he read that Ralph Gonzales, PM of St Vincent, just informed the Americans that his country (150sq miles and population 110,000) was declining the invitation to their “Summit of the Americas”. While your Eyewitness thinks Ralph didn’t actually spell it out, we can assume the Yanks know he’s protesting their exclusion of lefties Cuba, Nicaragua and a Venezuela from the Summit.
If the Americans bother to change Ralph’s mind, the conversion might go somewhat along the lines of the super power of the Greek Era (Athens) in their fight with the other Sparta with a pipsqueak state Melos, who wanted to stay neutral. It’s told by Thucydides.
The Athenians offer the Melians an ultimatum: surrender and pay tribute to Athens, or be destroyed. The Melians argue that they’re a neutral city and not an enemy, so Athens has no need to conquer them. The Athenians counter that if they accept Melos’s neutrality and independence, they would look weak: Their subjects would think that they left Melos alone because they were not strong enough to conquer it.
The Melians argue that an invasion will alarm the other neutral Greek states, who will become hostile to Athens for fear of being invaded themselves. The Athenians counter that the other Greek states on the mainland are unlikely to act this way, because they are free and independent, and thus loath to take up arms against Athens. What worries Athens is potential rebellions in its empire from disgruntled peoples it has already conquered, including islands that would threaten its dominance of the seas. Conquering Melos will demonstrate Athens’s strength and discourage rebellions.
The Melians argue that it would be shameful and cowardly of them to submit without a fight. The Athenians counter that the Melians are not facing a fair fight, and if the Melians lose, they will suffer not mere shame, but annihilation.
The Melians argue that though the Athenians are far stronger, there is still a chance that the Melians could win, and they will regret not trying their luck. The Athenians counter that the Melians should not indulge in hope when their odds of winning are so evidently faint, and the consequences of defeat so terrible. If the Melians resist, they will likely lose and come to bitterly regret their irrational optimism.
…realpolitik (continued)
The Melians argue that they would have the assistance of the gods, because their position is morally just. The Athenians counter that the gods would not intervene because it is the natural order of things for the strong to dominate the weak.
The Melians argue that their Spartan kin will come to their defence. The Athenians counter that the Spartans don’t have enough at stake inMelos to risk an intervention, noting that Athens has the stronger navy.
The Athenians express their shock at the Melians’ lack of realism. They reiterate that there is no shame in submitting to an overwhelmingly stronger enemy, especially one who is offering reasonable terms. The Melians do not change their minds, and politely dismiss the envoys.
The Melians were defeated and surrendered. The Athenians executed the adult men, and sold the women and children into slavery. They then settled 500 of their own colonists on the island.
…and Guyana’s response
Guyana, unlike St Vincent, quickly said they would be attending the Summit. This, of course, was totally against the “principled” stance taken by their founder Cheddi Jagan when he placed “The West on Trial”!!
