Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I've recently started to see war and violence as a bit archaic.
A few weeks ago I read about soldier Henry Fleming's battle with fear in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and couldn't help but think how unfortunate and hypocritical war is. But actually, how often do parents and teachers tell children to "Use your words?" Growing up children are taught that violence is not the answer yet it's something adults turn to as a solution, I guess, when people won't listen.
It seems like the message they're sending is that when people won't listen, we should hit them.
Any thoughts on the effectiveness of war in conflict-resolution? Or a utilitarian reasoning of the costs and benefits of war or a specific war?
Until my next postworthy thought.
Like the Phil Ochs song -- It's always the old who lead us to war, always the young who die.
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