Mostly Harmless - I agree it's a poor example, but it was one intentionally chosen as a stark contrast to our normal value system (uh... ok, maybe "my" normal value system).

Dagny, I'd probably yak too. Or shake really really bad. Which is embarrasing as a guy
Although I would love to debate how self-preservation in one's home is somehow different than self-preservation outside one's home (where someone dies), it's totally OT and worthy of a whole slew of threads. In my mind, though, having one's actions kill another is the same, whethere it's on the offensive or defensive.

Susan, if he had other choices available, and he went with the powerline first, he's a flipping moron.

This chaps mistake was not burning the evidence, i.e. of the ends of the chopped poles. I would have then just later said that a beaver ran of with my firesteel earlier that morning.

[quote=MostlyHarmless

The last 100-150 years, Western civilization has gone through great effort to extend the definition of human to your enemies, which are not inhuman and are not to be tortured or massacred. You may still shoot or bomb someone for some military gain defined by your leaders, but not civilians. This is a fairly recent invention. [/quote]

Only the implements of war have changed. Witness: Alexander the Great, Erick the Red, King Richard Lionheart, Julius Caesar, Gengis Khan..................

Residents of Tokyo or Dresden circa 1945 might quibble with your timing somewhat, and the doctrine of strategic bombing in the 1920s was centered around of idea of knocking out the opponent's civilian support for war. But from the end of WWW2 or so I agree.

I also agree that if the situation isn't desperate he'd better not mess with the community power system. If he's not low on food, water, or something else essential for survival, the power company should give him a map & compass rather than a ride out.

I wouldn't agree considering one of the largest aerial bombing campaigns ever mounted was during Operation Menu in the late 1960s and early 1970s, where over 2.5 million tonnes of high explosive bombs were dropped on countries that had virtually no air defenses. The tonnage dropped was many many times that dropped during the second world war.

Shock and Awe was only a few years ago.

LOL -- though any beaver that could survive that dose of pole treating oil would be a heckuva lot more freaky than any bear I've met.

Actually, to be ploddingly literal, if I absolutely had to chop down power poles, I'd chop as high as I could -- above three feet. At least that gives the repair crews something to work with. I've seen a lot of three-phase line poles repaired with thru-bolts and big, heavy steel dogs. The repair outlasts the pole.

Woof!
Doug

P.S., is this thread generally heading toward a Monty Python sketch, or is it just me? "I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay ... "