War is Hell for the victors. For the losers, it is merely extremely unpleasant.
The victors must face up to the fact that have done many terrible things (e.g., killing) for (hopefully) a greater good. You must face up to the fact that you took great, deep, intense, pleasure in winning, or more specifically, in the enemy losing, in the enemy succumbing to the terrible things you did to them.
The soldiers on the ground truly experience war as hell. They are conditioned to kill, to act without thinking -- having no moral qualms -- in a way contrary to what is reasonable human behavior. Afterwards, what does it mean to be human?
This aspect of war does not seem to have changed in thousands of years. Can we use our modern smarts and technology to make our lives better? Or we are not there yet? Somehow I see the solution involves mass brainwashing of the entire planet's population to convince ourselves that war is bad. That kind of technology does not exist, yet. Though it is within the realm of imagination.
No comments :
Post a Comment