(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Thinking about war [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-30 ‘He’s the universal soldier, and he really is to blame. But his orders come from far away no more. They come from him and you and me, and oh, brothers, can’t you see? This is not the way we put an end to war.” Buffy St. Marie “The Universal Soldier” “All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.” John Steinbeck Man, the “thinking animal,” continues to think up more efficient ways to kill, while using the same thought process to implement better ways to help people live longer and more securely than before. But in the area of critical thinking about how to share global plenty and live in peace, we lag far behind. Deadlier weapons and increasing prosperity prove that we now have no reason to fight wars, and many reasons to keep peace. But in the nation-states that have descended from ancient warring tribes and confederations, governments continue to harass, jail, and kill citizens who protest when their countries make war, who question the ongoing reality of war as peace. Some nations attack others, who have no choice but to fight back. But rulers who initiate wars ignore critical, social thought, which repeatedly shows that all humans share mutual needs, fears, and aspirations—which are attainable only if we all cooperate with one another. Our kinship is obvious, though many of us still reject the evidence. In mankind’s tribal, hunter-gatherer past, people were as intelligent and rational as they are now. But everyone’s physical and mental energy was used up in the struggle to get the next meal, find protection from hostile nature, and fend off enemies. Since hunting implements could also kill humans, our forebears invented more efficient ways to kill people from other tribes. With enemies and starvation always lurking nearby, our Paleolithic ancestors developed tight social structures, wherein each member of any particular tribe was loved and valued by everyone else in that tribe. Along with deeply held feelings within every tribe that each member was sublime came feelings of absolute contempt for those in other tribes. Solidarity within cultures and hatred for those outside were mutually reinforcing, and those sentiments allowed the human race to survive many hard millennia. Gradually, humans learned how to domesticate animals, and later, to plant crops, greatly increasing food supplies and the population. They also devised better methods of killing their enemies, which led to conquests that gradually built nation-states. Agricultural societies developed ownership and individualism, which fostered competition. Inevitably, some individuals became more equal than others. Surplus food supplies allowed conquerers to capture, rather than kill, their vanquished—allowing slavery to develop. Slave labor freed members of the ruling classes to spend their time in other pursuits besides getting food. Usually those in the leisure classes did what they have always done: fight wars, keep their underclasses under control, and engage in leisurely dissipation. However, a few of these privileged ones (scant few at first, but gradually more, and even some commoners) apparently noticed and regretted the loss of close companionship with others. They began to think critically at social levels, to come up with radical ideas such as equality for everyone, everywhere. Usually, the enlightened ones were ignored; some were crucified or forced to drink hemlock. But their ideas endured, and were passed on as civilization progressed. More who came later embraced those concepts, which slowly changed the underlying general nature of human society. Today, most humans pay at least lip service to the idea that we are all of the same race, and deserve tolerance, respect, even love, from one another. Since most modern humans at least publicly accept the notion that we are all equal, war is now condemned worldwide, even though the rulers of nearly all nation-states either wage war or threaten to, stockpiling and using astoundingly destructive weapons. Rulers still rely on warfare to hold the loyalty of their subjects. Democratic nations, maintaining large forces to prevent attacks from autocratic ones, can ultimately evolve into autocracies, and are only held back by the constant vigilance and activity of citizens who think critically on social levels, who believe in equality, who unite to maintain democracy. Dictators, wanting to keep power for themselves, employ censorship, propaganda, and incarceration to deter their citizens from critical thinking. Dictators are helped by many of their subject citizens, who prefer not to be bothered by having to consider abstract ideas about developing more open, plentiful, and inclusive societies. Despite the dictators’ efforts, people who believe we need to make life better for others in order to improve life for ourselves keep popping up and making waves—usually small ones, but small waves can grow. Rulers, whatever their titles, have always instinctively known that warfare reliably eliminates demands from their subjects to improve life for the general population. Going back to Paleolithic times, people have tended to line up behind their leaders when enemies needed to be vanquished. But in the past few centuries since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, growing numbers of citizens have taken to questioning their rulers, even when their countries go to war. We have slowly learned the obvious fact that wars are not only deadly and destructive, devoid of any real winners except perhaps some oligarchs—they are also horribly difficult to end. Still, modern governments, including ours, can wage war without much resistance. Our human instincts, unconsciously connected to our tribal roots, are often confused because societies have become far more complex than they used to be. In modern times, we expect our societies to continuously make survival on at least the physical level more successful and less difficult than before. We retain strong desires to belong as equals among our fellow citizens, which can conflict with our proclaimed reverence of the individual—especially successful ones. Many of us still retain tribal animosity toward those we perceive as different, despite widespread public proclamations of equality. War eliminates the need to consider these mental conflicts, since it revives our instinctive sense of belonging to one superior group by providing a common enemy. War simplifies much human thought into basics—kill or be killed—which complex societies can ill afford. Yet war can no longer prevent at least some individuals in every culture from thinking critically on societal levels, which bothers rulers who wage war. Thanks to human reasoning, the means for comfortable living are now available to everyone, if resources are properly and fairly distributed. It requires considerable thought about society to overcome the selfish individualism that has dominated society since we began farming, while still honoring the civil rights of all individuals. The responsibility of critical thinkers on a social level is to find constructive ways to share our thoughts about bettering society. Arguments during holiday dinners are probably not constructive. Despite difficulties, we must persevere. Being personally unable to avoid critical thinking without state-sponsored reeducation, I feel grateful that we have no reeducation centers here in the United States—yet—and I am totally committed to keeping things that way. I know that fascism is relentlessly trying to take over our free country, and if it does, expressing our thoughts about improving society will be made illegal. All of us who agree that a real threat exists need to stand together to protect each other’s need and ability to think, to disagree, to form workable compromises. Otherwise it actually could happen here—we could wind up in some modern American Room 101, charged with thoughtcrime. 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