> Travis, you are missing one important element. You can bluff in poker - I
> was waiting for someone bringing that subject up - as long as all players
> are playing by the rules of the game. Your bluffing becomes completely
> useless if the other player will pull a gun on you - i.e. is in the position
> of changing the rules in the middle of the game.
Yes the Iron lady did something like this to the miners in the UK.
> That is a good thing to remember next time you are playing poker or showing
> the threatening gestures to people with power - make sure that the rules of
> the game will not change when you bluff, or otherwise be prepared to fight
> with something more substantial than a piece of paper.
But then you are now saying that mobilization should only occur if and only if your group can control the feild and the rules of engagement. So now your maximalist bar has been raised even higher! Not only do mobilizations need to scare the shit out of the ruling class and yeild immediate pay-offs but it must also be the case that any further manouvering by the ruling class must be met with the capacity to violently topple the state. Wow. Given these rules of the game I think I will just get a job in the academy and teach students the futility of existence or I suppose several courses and exercises on armed struggle and guerilla warfare of the intercine type. Which do you teach?
Travis