War and Why?
For as long as civilizations titled themselves into countries, they have had military forces. Be it all the men in the village wielding arrows, or all the young men in a small suburban town destined to wield assault rifles, it stems back to a some form of chaotic, violent urge we must have in humanity as a collective.
In my research, wars have evolved but have a simple frame. It goes something like this: Gain an edge over the enemy. Find what the enemy has over me. Find a weakness in the enemy. Exploit the weakness.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It sounds very bare bones, but in the midst of all of that just imagine the amount of devastation done to the citizens who most likely want no part in political rabble. The reason for this frame can be chalked up to a primal desire to be better and stronger than competition, as well as win the war for whatever reason we may have. An example would be when the french developed Tanks, the German's developed Nerve Gas, which effectively combated them. It took all of the steps infact to complete the Nerve Gas. The Germans "found out what their enemy had over them" via a network of spies, they "developed something over them" or tried to develop a large artillery rifle, and exploited their weakness. In the end, no war is won, its only postponed unit the next hotheaded leader blows the whistle.
The reasons for war can be numerous, but I personally believe it all stems from a primal urge inside of us, similar to a hive mind, where we believe violence is the absolute authority, and in some countries, the sole authority. Of course, its not always from a desire to rain down victory and absolute authority over the percieved enemy, sometimes its more.. monetary. Although it sounds cruel that people may incite wars simply to profit and prosper, I know and I am sure my readers do know that us humans are capable of things that are as cruel and horrible as you can imagine. It would not surprise me, therefore, to deduce that at least some of the major wars were triggered by a human and his desire for money.
The most saddening and interesting part to me is the fact that society accepts massive amounts of trauma done to its military. I'm not talking about actual combat as.. that is quite expected but in training, in the reserves, many people say it breaks you. It breaks you from a person, into a tool, or an animal. The typical archtype of a yelling General at the recruits is multiplied by a thousand and it causes stress on their psyche until it breaks and they disconnect, simply doing what they are told. If this is the way it is here, I shudder to think what worse actions have been dreamed up in other locales.
In the end, we can look back and call the Spartans savages for their warlike ways, and even call the Atzec cruel for their human sacrifices, but can we honestly look around and call ourselves developed simply because we have created bigger, more advanced guns, and different ways to break a person. In my eyes, history repeats itself and if you see it like I do, it has.
Exeunt.
In my research, wars have evolved but have a simple frame. It goes something like this: Gain an edge over the enemy. Find what the enemy has over me. Find a weakness in the enemy. Exploit the weakness.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It sounds very bare bones, but in the midst of all of that just imagine the amount of devastation done to the citizens who most likely want no part in political rabble. The reason for this frame can be chalked up to a primal desire to be better and stronger than competition, as well as win the war for whatever reason we may have. An example would be when the french developed Tanks, the German's developed Nerve Gas, which effectively combated them. It took all of the steps infact to complete the Nerve Gas. The Germans "found out what their enemy had over them" via a network of spies, they "developed something over them" or tried to develop a large artillery rifle, and exploited their weakness. In the end, no war is won, its only postponed unit the next hotheaded leader blows the whistle.
The reasons for war can be numerous, but I personally believe it all stems from a primal urge inside of us, similar to a hive mind, where we believe violence is the absolute authority, and in some countries, the sole authority. Of course, its not always from a desire to rain down victory and absolute authority over the percieved enemy, sometimes its more.. monetary. Although it sounds cruel that people may incite wars simply to profit and prosper, I know and I am sure my readers do know that us humans are capable of things that are as cruel and horrible as you can imagine. It would not surprise me, therefore, to deduce that at least some of the major wars were triggered by a human and his desire for money.
The most saddening and interesting part to me is the fact that society accepts massive amounts of trauma done to its military. I'm not talking about actual combat as.. that is quite expected but in training, in the reserves, many people say it breaks you. It breaks you from a person, into a tool, or an animal. The typical archtype of a yelling General at the recruits is multiplied by a thousand and it causes stress on their psyche until it breaks and they disconnect, simply doing what they are told. If this is the way it is here, I shudder to think what worse actions have been dreamed up in other locales.
In the end, we can look back and call the Spartans savages for their warlike ways, and even call the Atzec cruel for their human sacrifices, but can we honestly look around and call ourselves developed simply because we have created bigger, more advanced guns, and different ways to break a person. In my eyes, history repeats itself and if you see it like I do, it has.
Exeunt.
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