Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joan Denoo on December 9, 2020 at 2:11am

Sorry, Loren, I am not following your very reasonable and responsible rule of not dominating a page. I just can't seem to help myself. 

Permalink Reply by Stephen Brodie on December 9, 2020 at 2:26am

Of course, the one expense the instigators of war don't share equally with the majority of people is the fighting and the dying. 

Permalink Reply by Onyango Makagutu on December 9, 2020 at 7:55am

Desiderius Erasmus in writing against war wrote

There is no part of the world, that is not subject to peril and danger of man’s life, which life of itself also is most fugitive. So manifold mischances and evils assail man on every side that not without cause Homer did say: Man was the most wretched of all creatures living.

Permalink Reply by Grinning Cat on December 12, 2020 at 12:29pm

Butler suggested taking the profit out of war, by "conscripting" the executives and officers of munitions makers and warship and warplane builders, and bankers and speculators that profit by them, and generals and admirals and politicians -- to get the exact same salary as enlisted servicemembers on the front lines; actually "everyone in the nation be restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that paid to the soldier in the trenches!"

He also suggested requiring a referendum before going to war, limited to those eligible to be drafted and who'd potentially be risking their lives. (This excludes many congresscritters!)

Also worth a look, say if you can get a copy via interlibrary loan: From War to Peace: A Guide to the Next Hundred Years by Kent Shifferd. He points out how our societies have a long history of schizophrenically viewing war both as an almost unthinkable, horrific last resort and as a noble and glorious exercise of national power, and suggests that we might have an opportunity to outlaw war just as we've outlawed slavery.

(This was written before the rise of Trump, Orban, and others in the current wave of populist authoritarians, though!)

Ruth has also suggested War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges, on the seductive, addictive power of war and on our appetite for violence.

Editorializing and speculating here: could something like sportsball replace war? And can we boldly redesign or improve "human nature"? With the planetary catastrophes we're facing, the last thing we need is to keep senselessly killing each other.

Permalink Reply by Onyango Makagutu on January 6, 2021 at 2:54am

could something like sportsball replace war?

I doubt it. War allows many would be nothings to become heroes overnight. One has to find something that would make millions or thousands find meaning in their drab lives.

And can we boldly redesign or improve "human nature"?

this, i guarantee is not possible. In man, there is the potential to create great harm or good. Another is not possible. Man is the only animal that causes pain as an end in itself to his fellows, I think.