The Madness of War
It is essential
to constantly remind ourselves, that war, apart from a very few exceptions, is
a symptom of madness. Yet war is a disease which is largely taken for granted;
considered ‘normal’ and unless it involves a large swathe of humanity, ignored.
How did we allow ourselves to be trapped by such insanity?
In 2017, wars are as
prevalent as ever. They are being manifest in the Middle East, in Africa, in
South America, and in a lesser form, in almost all countries of the World. They
are the result of a failure to recognize that killing another is actually
killing one’s self. A failure to grasp that humanity is a collective made up of
millions of individuals, all of whom share a common ancestry and, on a
subconscious plain, a common aspiration and destiny.
There is no victory in war.
War is an admission of defeat. When humans resort to mass killing of each other
we see an expression of failure, never success. Not so long ago war was
glorified and, for the victor, held up as an expression of supreme national
pride. In fact, such an attitude was predominant in the species for thousands
of years.
However two World Wars put
an end to the hubris. The levels of destruction were so great and so many
millions died brutal and ugly deaths, that a kind of ‘war weariness’ set-in
amongst the survivors, and a new sense of the futility of it all became
integrated into societies which had undergone the experience. The world looked
like it might have learned its lesson; people had pounded each other, and the
natural environment, into a sickening pulp, and there was no glorious
aftermath. Just a sense of what ‘peace’ could actually mean.
There were – and are – still
some who find war ‘exciting’, whose own lives are too dull and routine to find
any thrill in the act of daily living. They look-on at wars in foreign
territories as extensions of their own angst and frustrations. Such individuals
find temporary comfort in watching others die.
This condition is more
prevalent than many might realize; it is symptomatic of a world crushed by
meaningless routine and managed by those lacking any manifest vision of
something more deeply fulfilling to awaken starved imaginations.
Of course, a history of war
will reveal that whole civilizations were born and dissolved via victory and
defeat on the battlefield. It was believed that these blood baths were a price
worth paying for the great accumulation of national wealth which followed them,
if one was on the winning side. It is sobering to reflect that much of the fine
architecture of old Europe is a result of plundered wealth.
War is made no less
destructive by the fact that it can now be carried out by people sitting in air
conditioned ‘cockpits’ in Houston. People trained to kill ‘at a distance’.
People whose chance of being themselves attacked by those they target, being
pretty much nil. This type of killing is one step away from the ‘robotic
soldier’, the envisioned battle field of the future and a direct of extension
of the war games kids (and adults) play on their electronic gismos.
But look, it’s still the
same underlying disease. It’s still the fascination with the idea of somehow
‘coming out on top’ and having it over ‘an inferior’. It’s still reveling in
destruction, on all plains of planetary life.
Children play war games. I
used to play ‘Cowboys and Indians’. I was indoctrinated into ‘war thinking’
from a very early age. It was just after World War Two, and life in Britain was
steeped in stories of heroism carried out by ‘our boys’ against the Nazis. Toy
soldier armies ranged against each other across the sitting room floor as
parents looked on with quiet acceptance. We soon graduated on to ‘cap guns’ and
staged mock battles around the garden bushes and trees.
But nobody got killed in
these ‘war games’ and the ground wasn’t turned into a sea of craters and toxic
mud by our childhood antics. Other matters eventually attracted our curiosity
and interest, and the guns and bows and arrows were dumped, unlikely to be seen
again.
If mankind would only grow
up, the same situation would repeat around the world. Adult individuals,
blessed with a little responsibility and the slimmest glimmer of wisdom, would
‘move on’ to areas of interest that expressed an eagerness to support the
planet, and not destroy it. A wish to explore new horizons of consciousness,
and not to regress into thoughtless thuggery. A desire to meet and enjoy the
company of other races and nationalities, and not to put a gun to their heads.
How can this madness have
gone on so long? How can war still ‘be taken for granted’ in 2017?
Even those who argue
vociferously for cutting back excessive CO2 emissions on the planet, don’t call
for an end to war and ‘war games’ that are responsible for a large part of these
emissions. They fail to realize that here is to be found the single largest
transmission of toxic CO2 when set against any other global activity. I’m
including a brief summary of the US position in 2013, just to illustrate the
point:
“According to its own study,
in 2013 the Pentagon consumed fuel equivalent to 90,000,000 barrels of crude
oil. This amounts to 80% of the total fuel usage by the federal government. If
burned as jet fuel it produces about 38,700,000 metric tons of CO2. And the
Pentagon’s figures do not include carbon produced by the thousands of bombs
dropped in 2013, or the fires that burned after the jets and drones departed. ”
(Counter Punch).
Most environmentalists and
climate change campaigners also ‘take war for granted’, it seems. It has been
etched into our bones by an endless indoctrination process. A process whose
symptoms can also be found in the way we are urged to be ‘aggressive’ and
‘competitive’ in order to make progress within the demands of the status quo.
How much of what is called ‘education’ is about bringing out our creative
potential instead of our aggressive potential? And how much is about cramming
us with the means to ‘succeed’ in the mostly cut throat world of business and
indeed, almost all professions?
We see the symptoms of
aggression in daily life, and fail to question it. Is it any wonder that we
fail to question war?
War is the most favored tool
of the controlling powers. It supplies the coffers of the military industrial
complex with an endless demand for production of weapons. The state then gets
the pay-off and looks for another war to keep the cycle of death going. It is
also a valuable diversionary tool for distracting the general public, while
unpopular and controversial issues are pushed through the system, with only a
few noticing.
Of course a great prize for
warmongers in general, is anticipation of the breaking out of mother of all
wars. And indeed, the ever looming threat of genocide never seems far off at
the hands of those who play with power the way children play with their toy
guns and swords, but without any of the child’s creativity. Today, in the USA
in particular, megalomania has become wedded with a sort of Russian Roulette
approach to who might present the next useful target for a bombing run or drone
attack.
Witness how high the stakes
get set in this fiendish game. Witness the Russian Federation and President
Putin being ever further provoked by the West to take an aggressive step that
could trigger a mega war scenario. The vicious taunting, without a shred of
evidence to give it credence, is a mark of the madness which all too often
grips those in power. Those who are determined to diminish all of life to a
poisoned arrow of fabricated fear, which, if ever launched, would take all of
humanity with it.
Let us be sure to keep a
close eye on those whom we elect to administer our countries. The intoxication
which comes with power is a very dangerous addiction, particularly when the
play things at such people’s disposal are weapons of mass destruction. We need,
more than ever, to be able to recognize the symptoms of megalomania and not
confuse it with ‘strong leadership’. It is a major weakness in the delivery of
what is called democracy, that so many people are still so easily fooled by
those ‘standing for election’.
We are being pushed by
‘anti-life’ forces, some of whose origins are less than human, to see the
planet and its people as expendable. To accept lies, deception and crude
power-play as something akin to ‘normal’. To feel that it is not in our powers
to bring deep change to a washed-out and degraded status quo. To believe that
war is an ‘acceptable’ way of shifting around the totems of power.
It’s time we not only woke
up, but got out of bed too. The hour is late, and this should add a significant
degree of urgency to our endeavors. Mankind is blessed with deep powers of
positive potential and these powers are far greater than the force which drives
the war mongering anti-life minority. We are close to a tipping point in the
growth of conscious awareness amongst caring human beings.
The key will be to channel
this awareness into taking measures to regain control of our destinies.
To rid this world of those
who hold it’s fate in their numb, insensitive hands. To act in unison and to
defy all efforts to divide and conquer our growing sense of purpose and
endeavor.
We can and we will, put an
end to the madness of war. We must not wait for war to put an end to us.
Julian Rose is an early
pioneer of UK organic farming, a writer and international activist. He is
currently President of The International Coalition to Protect the Polish
Countryside. Julian is also the author of two acclaimed titles: ‘Changing Course
for Life’ and ‘In Defence of Life’. You can purchase these books and read more
at www.julianrose.info
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