Assignment 9 - Thomas Noll

     War is such a funny phenomenon in terms of its scope. Most of our greatest technologies, radio, computers, satellites, were built out of a war setting. Besides technology, war brings a boom in the economy and loyalty. This is not a new concept, for all of civilization it is fighting, a strange and committed effort to the victory of a violent act that seems to drive the wheels of a large society. It is when the fighting stops that we stagnate, struggling with post-war debt and the horrors of our actions.
     However, rather than arguing this as a benefit of war, I want to assert that this is a feature that we should be incredibly ashamed of. There is no problem that "cannot" be solved by some diplomatic answer. War is what children do when they are too immature to share, who find it easier to raise their voices and throw their blocks than negotiate peace. Anyone delusional enough to see virtue in battle is ignorant to what a war field looks like. How could anyone condone such massive human suffering for any reason, save perhaps to prevent a greater suffering.
     Now, I am not ignorant enough to say it is possible to just not make war. Even if the majority may agree not to fight, this wont stop a desperate few from picking up weapons. And it only takes one aggressor to force two into a battle. So unfortunately, war seems to be an inevitable product of our evolved tribalism and mass delusions. But just because something is necessary, dosent mean we should support it. As an intelligent species we should be able to solve all of our problems diplomatically, we should be able to trust and advance science without the motivation of a victory, and we should be able to create a stable and prosperous society. Unfortunately, this utopia is just as much a delusion as war.