Spying Game Philosophy - The Phoenix must die!

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 81098

Pip:
The Wizarding World must be prepared to destroy itself in order to 
defeat Voldemort and all his kind for ever. Those who oppose what 
Voldemort stands for must fight those who support his ideas...And so 
the Order of the Phoenix is not setting out to defeat 
Voldemort. Instead it will force the WW to choose whether to fight 
him. It is also plotting against the Ministry, (and its pure-blood 
ethos) as Dumbledore cheerfully admits in OOP Ch. 27 p. 545. 
> 
Kneasy:
"Heh, heh," chuckled Kneasy, "As fine a piece o' sophistry as I've 
seen in many a year. An idealist is he? This Dumbledore chappie o' 
yourn? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Them's the sort as causes trouble, you mark my 
words."

> Pip:
> Dumbledore does not believe in seizing power.
> 
> Kneasy:
> Well, if he wins, he's got it. It's an adjunct of victory. So what 
does he do with it?  Abdication is not an option. Human nature being 
what it is, someone is sure to come along and think "Why not me?" 
Then we're back where we started. Give it away? Not possible. Not 
magical power. It resides within Dumbledore; nowhere else.  If he 
retires, sets up a new government, it'll only form factions, each 
> appealing to him  for support. It all gets very messy.
> 
> Many  posters have asked  "Why is Slytherin?" Good question. <snip> 
Well, every society is a dynamic; there must be a conflict of ideas 
for progress to be measured and justified. But is this the best way 
of doing it? How about  getting rid  of that damn hat and with it 
Slytherin, Gryffindor and the rest. After all, Slytherin has been a  
training ground, a nursery for the pureblood superiority ethic since 
forever. And a great place to make contacts with the like-minded. 
Dilute the poison. Spread 'em around. Maybe you  can dilute them 
enough to make a homeopathic mix.
<snip>

Laura:

Well, I must say, Kneasy, I expected a more violent reaction from you 
about Pip's theory, since she agrees with your "DD is up to 
something" line of thought and then turns it around to make him the 
savior of the WW, if not all of humanity.  But people are always full 
of surprises, aren't they?  

If I understand your argument right, I don't think it's sophistry 
you're accusing ESE!Pip (that would be Ever So Eloquent :-))of.   
It's not the argumentation with which you're taking issue, it's the 
premise.  Pip's premise is that humanity can be redeemed, that we're 
capable of fundamental behavioral change, and that's what DD is 
working towards.  She suggests that DD is willing to provoke a war 
between good and evil that may destroy (perhaps must destroy) the WW 
as it currently exists in the Potterverse.  But destroying that world 
doesn't necessarily mean destroying everyone in it, and DD hopes that 
some of his students will be left to create "a cleaner, better, 
stronger land...when the storm has cleared."  (That's from "His Last 
Bow", the final Sherlock Holmes story.) 

You don't agree. You say that it's human nature to attach value 
judgements to individuals or groups based on their differences from 
each other, and that will never change even if every muggle-hating, 
pure-blood-loving person in the WW dies.  So this war would be 
fruitless.  The best that DD could do is to acknowledge this 
propensity towards prejudice and try to weaken and control it.  

Am I right in reading your post as suggesting that DD has no choice 
but to be a leader of the magical world?   If in fact power resides 
in him and everyone knows it, he will wield it no matter what he does 
or where he is, just because others will follow him, if for no other 
reason.  And unlike Aragorn, DD has long since come to terms with 
that reality and decided to be proactive.  (Aragorn's also a lot 
sexier than DD-but maybe that's movie contamination...:-))

Clarifications, corrections and further expounding welcome!