The Essence of War
War is a state-sponsored exercise in terror -- especially with respect to its own citizens ... for if the latter individuals were not manipulated into signing up to go to war through the use of tactics of undue influence such as: fear-mongering, dis-information, indoctrination, propaganda, and straight-out lying, then no one in his or her right mind would go to war.
War is a gambit in a game of chess imposed on people by the power elite. A citizen believes one thing is being offered through the call to war when, in reality, the path to the citizen's demise is actually being plotted with the citizen's unwitting co-operation.
War is a destructive, insidious, soulless, pathological activity. Everyone who is touched by war -- whether directly or indirectly -- must find a way to deal with the virulent toxicity to which war gives expression.
War is an eggregious form of on-going theft. It steals: trust, innocence, potential, compassion, patience, sincerity, honesty, openness, decency, judiciousness, peace, truth, harmony, hope, faith, balance, equitability, tolerance, forgiveness, beauty, charitability, and joy ... replacing those qualities with: anger, hatred, secrecy, duplicity, intolerance, arrogance, turmoil, chaos, ugliness, suspicion, distrust, inhumanity, hardness of heart, misery, dishonesty, pain, betrayal, and disillusionment.
Beware the Janus-faced marketeers who come to you with promises of glory, triumph, victory, honor, and self-advancement in exchange for donating your body, soul, and heart to the war effort. They are snake-oil merchants of death and destruction who wish to induce you to make a devil's bargain that will cost you everything (even if you survive) while providing nothing in exchange except a dark, bottomless, excruciating existential abyss packaged in words that are very alluring but are completely devoid of actual human value.
War is a gambit in a game of chess imposed on people by the power elite. A citizen believes one thing is being offered through the call to war when, in reality, the path to the citizen's demise is actually being plotted with the citizen's unwitting co-operation.
War is a destructive, insidious, soulless, pathological activity. Everyone who is touched by war -- whether directly or indirectly -- must find a way to deal with the virulent toxicity to which war gives expression.
War is an eggregious form of on-going theft. It steals: trust, innocence, potential, compassion, patience, sincerity, honesty, openness, decency, judiciousness, peace, truth, harmony, hope, faith, balance, equitability, tolerance, forgiveness, beauty, charitability, and joy ... replacing those qualities with: anger, hatred, secrecy, duplicity, intolerance, arrogance, turmoil, chaos, ugliness, suspicion, distrust, inhumanity, hardness of heart, misery, dishonesty, pain, betrayal, and disillusionment.
Beware the Janus-faced marketeers who come to you with promises of glory, triumph, victory, honor, and self-advancement in exchange for donating your body, soul, and heart to the war effort. They are snake-oil merchants of death and destruction who wish to induce you to make a devil's bargain that will cost you everything (even if you survive) while providing nothing in exchange except a dark, bottomless, excruciating existential abyss packaged in words that are very alluring but are completely devoid of actual human value.
War Is a Racket!
The foregoing statement -- i.e., 'War is a Racket' -- was made by Smedley Butler. He wrote a book and gave a talk to the VFW based on the same premise. He knew what he was writing and talking about since he was not only a general who fought in a variety of wars on behalf of the United States, but, as well, he was a two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor.
According to Butler, wars were not fought to uphold principles of justice and/or truth, or even to defend the citizens of a country but, instead, were waged to serve the interests of corporations and the power elite. During war, people -- many of them less than 25 years of age -- are sent to their deaths or are sent into harms way, and, therefore, run the risk of being maimed for life (both psychologically and physically) so that politicians and business people can enhance their holdings in wealth and power.
According to Butler, wars were not fought to uphold principles of justice and/or truth, or even to defend the citizens of a country but, instead, were waged to serve the interests of corporations and the power elite. During war, people -- many of them less than 25 years of age -- are sent to their deaths or are sent into harms way, and, therefore, run the risk of being maimed for life (both psychologically and physically) so that politicians and business people can enhance their holdings in wealth and power.
The Wasting Disease
Someone once said (not George Bush, the younger, who totally mangled the quote): "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I feel that a lot of people in the military -- irrespective of which side they might be fighting for -- don't seem to want to take to heart the principle that is inherent in the foregoing quote ... in other words, they don't appear to have any sense of shame with respect to what they are doing despite the fact there is overwhelming evidence (which has accumulated over the centuries) to indicate that wars are based on lies, deception, and manipulation ... not on honor, duty, truth, or justice. Words such as "honor", "duty" "truth" and "justice" are just the lies that military people tell themselves to try to justify their participation in the pathology of war.
On the one hand, I admire people who are willing to put their life on the line to defend fellow citizens and/or to defend ideas such as freedom, justice, patriotism, duty, and honor. On the other hand, I am horrified by how easily such people can be fooled again and again to critically swallow the lies they are being fed -- lies that supposedly justify going to war and killing other human beings -- especially given that the vast majority of people killed in war are non-combatants -- and lies that lead to the destruction of other countries.
One of the basic duties of life is not to kill. One of the basic duties of war is to extinguish and brutalize life.
How does an alleged duty rooted in lies, manipulation, deceit, and the interests of the power elite override one of the basic duties of life?There is no honor here, there is no duty ... there should be just a sense of shame, but this doesn't seem to be the case except in those individuals who have finally come to the realization that, on more than one occasion, they have been fooled by the power elite, and, as a result, feel remorse for what they have been induced to do by people who care for them (or anyone else) less than Lucy cares for Charlie Brown every time she yanks the football away as he is about to kick it.
I want to feel badly for Charlie Brown with respect to how badly Lucy is treating him. On the other hand, the trick has been going on for many years, and, perhaps, Charlie's continuing willingness to trust Lucy is more than a little foolish ... if not downright tragic.
War is the wasting disease. It lays waste to: lives, resources, time, money, morality, spirituality, family, decency, honesty, truth, justice, integrity, potential, peace, and the future. The power elite leverage such waste to line their pockets and enhance their power.
The power elite are the Typhoid Marys of war. We all become ill through their presence.
On the one hand, I admire people who are willing to put their life on the line to defend fellow citizens and/or to defend ideas such as freedom, justice, patriotism, duty, and honor. On the other hand, I am horrified by how easily such people can be fooled again and again to critically swallow the lies they are being fed -- lies that supposedly justify going to war and killing other human beings -- especially given that the vast majority of people killed in war are non-combatants -- and lies that lead to the destruction of other countries.
One of the basic duties of life is not to kill. One of the basic duties of war is to extinguish and brutalize life.
How does an alleged duty rooted in lies, manipulation, deceit, and the interests of the power elite override one of the basic duties of life?There is no honor here, there is no duty ... there should be just a sense of shame, but this doesn't seem to be the case except in those individuals who have finally come to the realization that, on more than one occasion, they have been fooled by the power elite, and, as a result, feel remorse for what they have been induced to do by people who care for them (or anyone else) less than Lucy cares for Charlie Brown every time she yanks the football away as he is about to kick it.
I want to feel badly for Charlie Brown with respect to how badly Lucy is treating him. On the other hand, the trick has been going on for many years, and, perhaps, Charlie's continuing willingness to trust Lucy is more than a little foolish ... if not downright tragic.
War is the wasting disease. It lays waste to: lives, resources, time, money, morality, spirituality, family, decency, honesty, truth, justice, integrity, potential, peace, and the future. The power elite leverage such waste to line their pockets and enhance their power.
The power elite are the Typhoid Marys of war. We all become ill through their presence.
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