On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 06:36:37 -0600 Jay Maynard <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I know of no conservative who considers war entertaining. I'd be perfectly
> happy if there was no such thing as war. Unfortunately, that's simply not
> possible
At a previous time the idea that slavery was the natural state of
"inferior" races had a certain, shall we say, following and social
significance. It too was supported by such bald-faced
insupportable assertions. Nonetheless, it has been largely
relegated to the dustbin of history. Although, no doubt, there are
some who, in the privacy of their hearts and in the company of
their fellow travellers, still profess a fondness for the idea.
I put to you that the idea of war is unavoidable is a conscience
salving excuse to avoid facing the fact that war is the deliberate
policy of a few to advance a narrow self-interest presented to the
many as a public good. On similar evidence one might as well
proclaim that lynch law is unavoidable and that regulated civil
conduct between people an impossibility. And yet, all industrially
advanced societies ultimately stand or fall on the degree of public
acceptance of such intangible beliefs.
War is always somebody's choice. It does not arise as the
consequence of forces external to human will, either natural or
super-natural. Somebody sees an advantage to be had by recourse to
violence and snatches at it. It is not far removed in concept from
the more limited anti-social behaviour that we frequently label as
criminal.
Wars only occur because one group imagines itself somehow
substantially different (in other words, superior) to some other
group, which group has something that the first wants and intends
to have, regardless of the desires of the second. It is the
perverse actions of those that wish to retain a free hand with
respect to their own desires that inhibit the establishment of
substantial international barriers to military aggression. The
propaganda that such barriers simply will not work because it is
not in human nature to refrain from warfare denies the experience
of our own societies. Societies whose own internal depreciation of
violence permits the creation of the surplus resources necessary to
sustain a central state and thereby establish the means to conduct
war.
If you wish to have peace then the means to impose it on everyone
must be created. There can be no exceptions. But every ruling
elite wishes to be exceptional in this respect. Primarily towards
their own subjects but also towards others. As states are the
primary actors on the international stage the will of the rulers
prevails. War is not "natural" or "unavoidable." It is the
deliberate and considered policy of those who wish to benefit
thereby.
> The leftists who keep carping this way always omit that the "child"
> is an adult who has volunteered to be int he military, and quite
> often has volunteered to be in Iraq.
And those who deign not to consider the significant numbers of
those who are in the US military from economic necessity? What are
they ignoring? Is this not cause for some serious reflection when
one looks at the demographics of army recruiting? And what of those
whose idea of public service is abused by sending them to fight in
a war where profit and not patriotism seems to be the light guiding
those in charge? How benefits the United States when significant
numbers of career soldiers vote with their feet and leave military
service after doing "their bit" and choking back the bile that
results in the self-realization of betrayal and exploitation? How
are the long term interests of the United States advanced when
thousands of potential recruits turn away from service because
risking ones own life for a dollar fails that individuals' cost-
benefit analysis, and a compelling ethical social reason for
service is notoriously absent from the conflict?
Do the conservatives of the United States really want a mercenary
army? One composed significantly of non-citizens as well? Well,
whether they do or they do not, at the present rate of change, in a
few years that is what they will have in effect.
--
*** e-mail is not a secure channel ***
mailto:byrnejb.<token>@harte-lyne.ca
James B. Byrne Harte & Lyne Limited
vox: +1 905 561 1241 9 Brockley Drive
fax: +1 905 561 0757 Hamilton, Ontario
<token> = hal Canada L8E 3C3
* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *
|