War is a result of man’s stupidity

The argument goes something like this – ‘we need investment in those industries, we need investment to keep the jobs and to create more opportunities. If that doesn’t happen businesses and jobs will be killed off.’

Killed off?

Surely that’s a far less sort of killing compared to the end product these companies’ wares will be used for – and that’s killing dozens, even thousands, of people!

This is the war machine and Donald Trump loves it. Both are exemplary cases of what can only be a sheer insanity.

The motto is ‘Peace through strength.’ ¹ Its an idea that was promoted initially by the UK by Neville Chamberlain, and its one that’s been adopted by other countries, including the USA.

The idea is always this – others are planning wars, so one must always be at maximum strength. Its a strategy that has been pursued by the USA for decades, and Trump is ensuring this obtuse means of existence is being accelerated, no doubt helped along by a number of Republicans who see dollar signs for their communities in terms of defence spending and increased opportunities, jobs and soon.

This is now the argument facing the UK. Its just a few weeks since John Healey had resigned from Defence Secretary ² because he was most unhappy about the level of budget that Keir Starmer had been advocating for the UK Military. Now we’re getting to see the same pressure on Andy Burnham as politicians push to increase UK’s defence spending. Even leaders in Europe are now extolling that spending on the military be increased enormously to counter threats envisaged under NATO. ³ But, as we have seen, it does somehow appear that the biggest threat to the world has in fact been the USA, with Europe often a hesitant yet willing partner.

We’re now seeing the sheer stupidity of this vision, with Trump having led an onslaught against Iran. There’s no doubt there are things that are happening in Iran which are cause for concern, but instead of, for example, solving what are clearly violations of human rights, what Trump has done is to amplify the situation in the Gulf. Instead of the Straits of Hormuz being a free shipping lane for all the world’s oil carrying tankers, it is now a place that’s tightly controlled by Iran. And the result is its a part of the world that now costs money to have access to! This is the stupidity of war, of an outdated and continued notion that military strength equates peace and a better world. Where exactly has one seen a better Earth that has arisen as a result of war?

There’s no such place in fact! There’s nowhere on the planet that has benefited greatly from mass destruction and genocide.

Sadly this complete madness constitutes what can only be the whole sheer mentality of war. Its based on a most outdated concept that was no doubt devised by men. Wars are for men, are undertaken by men – and men as always are obtuse and stupid and cannot adjust their minds for the modern world. Even Sun Tzu and Niccolò Machiavelli who advocated better wars were very clearly doing so at a time when war was indeed a thing, but not only that it was all because one simply had no idea of how the other half lived. That is because there was no social media, no newspapers, no media, no insider knowledge of any sort – and besides the lives of men were quite obtuse anyway because fantasy and ridiculous metaphor ennobled their minds in order to achieve coercion and ensure potential opponents were eliminated. Both Machiavelli ⁴ and Tzu ⁵ advocated a more advantageous approach including psychological brinkmanship. Things like deluding tricking, the opposing side into making the wrong move and laying itself a trap.

The art of war is of vital importance to the State; It is a matter of life and death, a road either to survival or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. (Sun Tzu, The Art of War.) ⁶

Its evident such a philosophy has been the main fore in the minds of the worlds’ leaders ever since this desire to effect what were far more effective means of undertaking conflict. That very order originally happened at a time when one could not know the minds of other men and what they were planning. That was very clearly the old order, promoted and perpetuated by men. There’s no doubt it had been important when the various countries, including the UK and the USA, came face to face with adversaries who had desired world domination. Whether the world was able to avoid World War II is something that’s debatable even today. It’s been claimed that had the Allies acted differently such huge conflict would have been avoided.

Sadly as a result of such conflict, the USA undertook to show of its new military prowess by dropping bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – thus the era from 1945 onward is an old order that still stands in how its applied in the 21st century. There has been Cambodia, Korea, Laos, Vietnam as the leading examples where the idea has been that a country ought to be brought into submission in order that a peace be secured. Since then we have had Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and now its the turn of Iran and even Lebanon. Its a mad, mad, and utterly stupid, system that sees no winners. Victory of any sort has to be a mere illusion for such constant bombing and decimation of others can only mean a desire for revenge – thus the cycle of death and despair continues.

Clearly the idea of war has not gone away. It is a concept that politicians, senators and leaders, who harbour what must certainly be a most obtuse sense of existence, happen to be those responsible for what is happening. They cannot progress, they cannot live in the modern world, they can only live in what is evidently a regressive time loop. They desire the best weaponry and the most accurate projectiles be produced under the pretext of economics and jobs in order to perpetuate such outdated notion. ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning’ ⁷ pretty well sums up this whole idiotic notion of war.

To that end there are many industries whose livelihoods depend on this mad scheme. Without it there would be no work, no jobs. But the question that ought to be asked is which is the lesser evil? Is it a world that seeks continual peace or is it one that seeks continual war? Clearly there’s a perpetual arms race under way, which makes it very hard to achieve a world that is continually at peace. That is one where no-one desires, not for one moment, to launch a single weapon or projectile of any sort – or even to dream of decimating any other peoples or any other country. War produces no winners, so rather than be constantly prepared for war, it should be avoided at all costs.

Just think about it, the land used by the military machine (including associated industries) could be turned into hospitals, housing, and other social use with vast acres left over for parks and so on. The military has vast tracts of land that are used for the practice of war. Imagine the huge advantages to the world and its health if these lands were to be used for forests (that serve as vital carbon sinks), wildlife refuges or other ecology that would benefit the health of each and every species on the planet. These are some of the many examples that would make the world a far better place to live.

The other thing is the trillions spent on an increasing military machine are diverted from other potential uses, including health, education, housing, environment and the rest of it. Its why for example, Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham says defence cannot be achieved for exmaple at the expense of social security. ⁸ Burnham’s assertion no doubt makes it clear any increased military spending has to come at great disadvantage.

The full irony is any war costs a level of money way beyond the capability of many countries. Even simply sustaining the military costs trillions along with land appropriated for military use. Itsa concept that’s totally skewered – and the downside of it all is there’s a massive negative equity in terms of the well being of the planet.

Not only that, the military are without a doubt some of the world’s worst abusers of the environment! This was discussed in part in this blog’s previous post – Earth’s Greatest Enemy. There’s no doubt the world’s environment, with its flooding, earthquakes, and glacier collapse, is being turned into a relentless punishment machine against every single living species on earth – and that for triple times the cost of what it would take to mitigate the problematic global impact that has ensued so far. Its absolutely clear the world could solve many of its problems for far less than the cost of a military machine which must be perpetuated at all costs. Sadly a good many politicians do not see it like that because they think in terms of money and investment – and so the war machine must continue.

Man’s stupidity shall continue to ensure the world is an increasingly worse place for life.