I have had visitors recently, and like myself, they are all supporters of a sustainable future. When we started discussing my ideas of why I believe we need a worldview change, they agreed with me, but could not easily see how a destructive humanity could change that readily. We talked about the recent conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East. What came out was how hard it was to find real information about the conflicts. The mainstream media so readily portray the conflicts as simple them and us (the other) with good and bad sides, and little in-depth analysis. The latter can be found but with much effort. We agreed that some hierarchical system had an agenda to keep us at each other’s throats.
I did a quick google with the question, ‘Why do we have wars?’ Interesting top answer, “A major motivation of warfare is the desire of one group of human beings—usually governments [a hierarchy], but often the general population of a country, tribe or ethnic group—to increase their power and wealth. The group tries to do this by conquering and subjugating other groups, and by seizing their territory and resources. Of course, it is a broad generalized answer, but as I researched academic literature, I came across a good Scientific American article from September, 2018, titled, ‘War Is Not Part of Human Nature.’
So what is war good for? Edwin Starr, in 1970, had a simple answer to this question in his song ‘War.’ There was a memorable talk in the original 1930 “All Quiet on the Western Front” film about why we fight. The troops are discussing why they are fighting and what ought to be happening. The Grizzled veteran character Kat, says, “Whenever there’s a big war comin’ on, you should rope off a big field [and sell tickets], and on the big day, you should take all the kings and their cabinets and their generals, put ’em in the center dressed in their underpants, and let ’em fight it out with clubs. The best country wins.” Then, whoever won would be the new bosses and leave people to get on with their lives.
I recall reading (and later seeing the movie) Catch-22. The story is disturbingly about the ridiculous behavior and illogical arguments used to justify illogicality. While done in a flatly satirical tone, the story shows how outrageous and bizarre the characters and situations are in war situations. And as importantly, it is about the absolute power of bureaucracy that increasingly believes its own insane beliefs and narratives in justifying itself and its increasingly destructive actions and decisions to achieve ludicrous goals.
At the start of any war, there is a lot of propaganda to rile people up to defend their (pick your favorite reason). There is rarely any real truth, just memes and blood stirring rhetoric that convince people to join in on the hysteria. And after it is all over, a lot of sad rhetoric on why we not fight any more wars – until the next one. Who actually benefits? War is actually great for businesses that have any product investment involved in any way with war, conflict and fighting (armaments, uniforms, agriculture, burial systems, rebuilding, etc.). And most of the profiteering funnels uphill to the 1% to increase their power and wealth. Read any of the endless tomes that discuss any conflict and if they are honest, they will tell you what a ridiculous ‘f***fest the whole process was. The Covid lockdowns also fit this same mentality for those who still feel emboldened to justify killing as a solution to national problems.
The simple common reason why we fight is that we a goaded into it. And when we are filled with fear and loathing, we are conditioned to react negatively – it suits the hierarchies agendas. And many not knowing that so many of our cherished believes are illusions given to us, breaking out of the negative conditioning takes a lot of effort.
“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed” Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Most people don’t want the truth. They just want constant reassurance that what they believe is the truth” Tamara Zainab.
“It is hard to tell which is worse; the wide diffusion of things that are not true, or the suppression of things that are true” Harriet Martineau.
The simple solution – critical thinking! I have written so much on this but a couple of my recent posts capture the essentials (Miscellaneous Musings – Part 3: Finding Truth for Yourself {July 2023} and Miscellaneous Musings – Part 7: The Revolving Door & Consequences {August 2023}). You have the right to find truth (even a duty to do so) and to think for yourself. I talked about generational gaps in the last post, and one aspect I am seeing more and more with the younger generations is a resistance to the conditioned beliefs and values of the older generations. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but younger people not only see the world differently, but are open to a world that is more peaceful and less materialistic. Can they maintain this in the face of relentless conditioning? We will see, but I am very optimistic because they are the vanguard of a new kind of humanity that embraces peacefulness.
As I wandered around Iceland, Denmark, and Norway recently, I was struck overall with how more placid, peaceful and conflict resistant the people were. Even the hoards of visitors (like myself) were calmed by the kind of atmosphere that seems to exist. Unlike my last trips in Britain and central Europe where armed police presence was highly notable, in Scandinavia, it was the lack of police presence, although I am sure it was about. In Iceland I saw two police cars while traveling around the island (one parked patrol car in Reykjavik, and one heavy duty (high clearance AWD) police truck in Northeast Iceland), never saw any police in Denmark, and only two parked patrol cars in eastern Norway. More about my observations of Scandinavia and its role in a sustainable future in the next post.
As I travelled around Scandinavia, I didn’t think any of the locals I encountered would rush up and hug me in a loving embrace (they are very stoic), but I did get a peaceful sense about the way they lived. Not conflict-free, but much less likely to leap to violence as a first reaction to a stressful situation. They have their inefficient and agenda prone bureaucrats’ like any modern government, but the societies’ were just calmer in general. There are many reasons for this, which I will discuss in the next post. I have talked often about the need for societal trust, and Nordics seem to have a high level of social cohesion that contributes to living together as a more pleasant experience.
To Be Continued ……………….
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