It's a dirty job...

There's a TV show now called Dirty Jobs. They say that people do these jobs to make modern life possible.

Civilization in general is a "thin veneer" overlaid on the real world. The real world is of course the world of Nature.

Nature can be harsh at times. One of the purposes of civilisation is to shield us from that. We have fire to keep us warm, shelters to keep out the wind and rain (or sometimes the harsh sun), we store food so we're not hungry during Winter, etc.

But civilisation itself is an artificial thing. It can't endure unless it is actively supported by us.

While Creator provides us with a world rich with food and other resources, there is nothing at all natural about the following scenario.

A man gets out of bed, puts cereal in a bowl, pours cold milk on it, pops a slice of bread in the toaster, spreads butter on it when its done, and sits down to read the newspaper while he's eating.

Afterward, he gets in his car and turns on his radio to get a traffic report as he begins his drive to work.

We could go on, but let's stop here. What would happen if we all just became passive participants and just experienced these things?

For a few days, we could keep it up. But after we've eaten the food without replacing it, we go hungry. If we don't pay the power bill, the refrigerator and toaster won't work. If we haven't refueled the car, it will run out of gas. If everyone is being as idle as we are, then crops are not being planted and harvested, or being driven to stores. Fuel for power plants and cars will not be delivered, and they will shut down. No one will have power or transportation. In just a few days, our comfortable world would cease to function. Civilization requires work to maintain.

Socially, without the strong and able looking out for the weak or disabled, human interaction would quickly degrade into anarchy and chaos. Civilization requires work to keep going.

This does not only apply to technically complex civilization. In the old tribal days, our ancestors chose to provide food and comfort for themselves, rather than be at the mercy of Nature.

They planted crops, built homes, and made themselves protective clothing, using simple techniques and natural materials.

Living in settlements had its drawbacks. Wildlife tended to be frightened off by the concentration of human activities. The native animals (such as deer, bear, buffalo, etc.) did not lend themselves well to domestication. To get meat and hides, it was neccessary to go to the animals.

Though with settlements storing food, sometimes the wildlife showed up unwanted to help themselves. Sometimes, even human marauders showed up.

For their civilization to thrive, someone had to address these external needs and threats. This was the warrior's role.

The warrior had to be able to be at home outside the comforts of civilization, in order to maintain that civilization.

That isn't to say he spent all his time in the wilderness. He was able to spend time with his family, but he always had to be able to leave the comfortable life, sometimes on very short notice.

This need has not gone away in today's world. If anything, we are more vulnerable to sudden upheavals than our ancestors were.

Our convenient lifestyle is far from secure.

Very few households today are capable of feeding themselves if the power went off, or the semi trucks weren't able to deliver.

One of the roles I see our warriors filling is to be available to other clan members needing help. That could be something major like disaster relief, or something mundane like helping to move a piece of furniture.

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