Why it’s brave to think like a coward

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via Aeon: ‘The stigma attached to cowardice has caused terrible harm, most obviously to those who have been made to pay for the alleged ‘crime’. Less obvious, but more pervasive, is the damage done by people who, fearing the shame of cowardice, have acted in reckless, often violent ways. Remembering this should make us less ready to use the label of ‘coward’, especially in the case of someone refusing to use violence…’  – Chris Walsh

1 thought on “Why it’s brave to think like a coward”

  1. There’s a great section in The Things They Carried (which is about the Vietnam war and its effects on those of fighting age during and after) in which a young man rows a boat out into the middle of the lake and considers rowing the rest of the way, to Canada. He sits there for a long time and thinks about bravery and honor and so forth. And in the end he rows home, basically because he’s not *brave* enough to escape. An interesting reflection on what courage and cowardice really are, where “duty to country” and social expectations are so powerful.

    Anyway, this piece made me think of that. Great book, interesting article.

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