Thursday, July 10, 2014

Road filling

I recently read a book about Napoleon’s ill-fated march on Moscow in 1812. It was, not surprisingly, filled with the horrors and pointless sufferings of war, but no anecdote struck me as hard as the one about using corpses to fill out potholes.
During the retreat, so many soldiers and civilians froze and starved to death that human life (apart from your own) meant little or nothing. So when coachmen came to a dip in the road that impeded the passage of their wagons, the most convenient way to solve the problem was to haul a corpse or two from a nearby ditch and use them as filling material.
I understand that any bleeding heart who stopped to bury people under these circumstances would be left behind and either slain or captured by the enemy. So being an asshole proved to be a winning strategy. Sort of like on Wall Street. But in 1812, survival was at stake. In business, it’s just a new Maserati.
What would be worth giving up your dignity for?

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home