Reminds me of a story about one of my twin boys....He was a sophomore in high school and a standout on the wrestling team. Really good kid that got along with almost everybody.
The exception was one fellow student (senior) who was always giving him a hard time. Constantly harrassing him about being a pu$$y wrestler, not being so tough, couldn’t handle himself in a “real” fight etc etc etc.
Finally my boy had had enough....he set up a time to meet this other kid off campus and settle the matter. He did, tore into the other kid and it was over in all of a minute.
Even though it was off campus half the school showed up for the skirmish. He was never hassled again, he had earned respect.
I found out about this whole thing through the grapevine (small town) as the boy never told me. When I confronted him I had to give him the obligatory “not always the way to solve differences” and “you could’ve been kicked out of school” all the while being very proud and knowing it was exactly the way he should have handled that particular situation.
Countries or kids, negotiating with a bully for peace and respect accomplishes neither.
Well said and well put. It’s not pleasant. It’s not even desirable, but it’s reality.