Friends and Foes
There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, just permanent interests — Carol Moseley Braun
During WW1, Italy joined the Allied Forces as they finally ended up defeating Germany and Austria-Hungary. On April 26, 1915, Italy negotiated the secret Pact of London by which Great Britain and France promised to support Italy annexing the frontier lands in return for entering the war on the Entente side. On May 3, Italy resigned from the Triple Alliance and later declared war against Austria-Hungary at midnight on May 23. The same Austria-Hungary that Germany was in an alliance with, had been the major power fighting against the German Unification.
In the fight for Unification, the Italians had to at one point in time, join forces with France to defeat the Austrians in the battle of Solferino. The same French that helped them in their struggle for Unification and during WW1 will be invaded by Italy during WW2, under Benito Andreas Mussolini.
During the years of the great wars, only Britain, France and USA were always on the same side. Even so, that wasn’t always the case. In 1770, 13 American States fought a war of liberation from British rule. In 1230, the British invaded France. Despite their closeness in the 20th century, France has invaded Britain more than any other country. But over the years, France has also been Britain’s greatest ally. We could start naming, but to what end?
A foe is an enemy or opponent. And while the world likes to look at it from the first definition, I like to see a foe mostly as an opponent. And what are the other synonyms of opponent? Rival, adversary, opposition. I’m sure we all know who a friend is. If we don’t know, let’s always remember to go by the adage — a friend in need is a friend indeed.
They say that there are two things that can easily break a masculine friendship — money and women and while I agree with this, I also love to think that the concept or idea of a friendship is kind of farfetched. I don’t really believe that there are friendships out here. In an old article, I talked of the commercialization of friendships and if we go by that standard, we can assume that the term friendship is a bit of an overused overstatement. Because in every human interaction and relationship, people are with you mostly because of what they can get from you.
Some friendships grow and die naturally and somehow, we always want to find a reason for that. Sometimes, we’d love to refer to the other friend as a bad friend for abandoning us and moving on like “we” never happened. Other times, we spend our time trying to rekindle the dying flames. But what if these friendships had come to a natural expiration? Other friendships end because there is nothing more to gain from the friendships. We grow and we move. We find new goals and new visions. We need new stepping stones and ladders. The old friends don’t just cut it for us anymore.
Can we therefore agree with Carol Moseley Braun in the above assertion? I strongly believe that human nature is constantly changing and mostly selfish, jealous and deceitful. So, a friend today might become a foe tomorrow. A foe yesterday can become a better friend today. Robert Greene in The 48 Laws of Power clearly highlights why we should make more use of our enemies than our friends. He says friends are prone to jealousy, entitlement and ungratefulness. He says a former enemy would serve a better friend and a former friend would be a deadlier enemy. He even insists that we go as far as making enemies if we don’t have some.
Do you believe that there are no good and bad people, but just people who can be good or bad? Yes? No? Maybe? Anyway, if you think so, then you’d most likely agree that there can’t be permanent friends or enemies, but permanent interests. And what if the friend you have today is the cause of your failures today and/or tomorrow? We have historical and biblical references. Julius and Jesus would testify. The friends change but the interests don’t change.
But are there any exceptions? Are there genuine friendships out here? And are foes really good for you?
A stitch in time saves nine — so they say. So we have become tailors of these human relationships and that, to a detriment.
Thank you for reading my rant.
