The Hitch said:
Never mind. I thought you said Baltic people crave violence but now I realise you said it about those in the Mediterranean. My bad
Which ones though?
All of them(not all at the same extent however). Homicidal rates and violence statistics are higher in Southern European countries bordering the Mediterranean sea and also Turkey and North African countries compared to Northern Europe. After around 1500 there was a gradual process of "spiritualisation of honour" going on in Northern Europe(Low countries, France, England, some Scandinavian countries and to a lesser extent Germany) while the rest of Europe retained an honour(= respect) system that was still closely related to the body till deep in the 19th and 20th century. The divergence between Northern Europe and Southern Europe is of course (a lot) smaller now than a few centuries ago, but there's still a gap. Spiritualisation of honour means that one doesn't react violently anymore when offended and that he can gain/obtain respect/honour by other means than violence like avoiding violence. As for the 21th centurty, murder and violence rates have been going up again in all European countries since 1970. Same trend is visible in the USA, but they always had a higher homicide and violence rate than Europe.
An honour system closely related to the body basically means that if someone disrespected you by means of an insult or another wrongful act the only way you can regain your respect is by returning the insult or by violence. People who always reacted violently to insults were "feared" and thus respected by their neighbours and not considered cowards. That still exists today in these Mediterannean countries, though obviously to a lesser extent than in the past. Best example of a "country" where respect is still closely related to the body(and the face in particular) is Corsica and also Sicily. Just remember that "respect" doesn't have the same meaning in every country. While we for example would consider a Turkish father killing someone who had intercourse with his daughter(before marriage) a trivial cause to kill someone for they'd consider it respectful and the right thing to do. I wouldn't say they crave violence, they merely have a different culture and the difference between North and South is much smaller these days than 70 years ago anyway.
Just saying this because one of your posts was assuming earning someone's respect precludes using violence or instilling fear in someone while that is not true today for every country in the world(and not even every European country) and definitely not true for the past. Sorry for the off-topic rambling
Besides, I just like using quotes like the one of Caligula. But even in cycling being afraid of a certain cyclist can be advantageous for said cyclist. Frank and Andy feared Gilbert at LBL, so they didn't even bother to attack him after they got away. They started LBL that day knowing they had already lost. They were like sheep destined for slaughter.
To use a quote of someone else this time:
"It's always a little bit scary when Contador attacks" - Thomas Voeckler.
Perhaps that one is a bit more relevant to what I'm talking about, what do you think?