The Superhero Bulletin #3
Why War?
5 News Stories I'm Following This Week
The Big Thought: Nobody really knows why we still go to war. How would you stop it?
If you had asked most of the 40 million people who died in World War I what they died for, would they be able to tell you? Even the best experts in history struggle with it.
Yet today, so many “experts” justify war for weak reasons.
- Countries fundamentally care about power and control and they will force their citizens to help them gain more land and resources.
- Countries and religions are incentivized to brainwash congregants and patriots to support their causes with their last dollar or their last drop of blood.
- Most problematic of all: Men are psychologically wired to kill.
But I’ve always found these explanations hollow.
There is equal mounting evidence to show that people don’t want to die, they don’t want to kill, and when given opportunities, they’d rather not fight.
Here are three questions I’m grappling with:
- Why do leaders send the military to war? And then why does the military listen? Leaders often choose to go to war because they see their country as having been attacked first or threatened in some way, whether that feeling is correct or not. And it’s usually egotistical and insecure leaders who send other people to die. The military often listens because of large institutions that teach children to obey the country from a young age and because of laws that criminalize desertion.
- Why do individual humans choose to fight and kill rather than desert or protest? Often, people follow the path of least resistance and what they consider normal. If we consider desertion awful and joining the military as honorable, people will go along with that. Also, many people join the military in times of peace when they can’t find other jobs.
- Why do international systems still reward war in any way, when there is such a high economic and reputation cost?
I would argue the systemic solution is more strong democracies, more global education and travel, praise for leaders who avoid war, and belittling/insulting leaders who don’t.
At the individual level, we need to support strong economies because people with good jobs hate joining the military or being drafted.
What are your ideas? Email us.
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Isvari Maranwe
CEO of Yuvoice
Award-Winning Cyber & Tech Attorney | Political Analyst & Writer
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