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| How Wars Are Made by David Krieger May 04, 2011 |
The first step is always to prepare for war by making weapons and teaching young people to march, turn on command to the left and to the right, and fire their weapons at pop-up enemies.
The second step is to find a suitable enemy. This has never been difficult. Any country, any group can be turned into an enemy with the right approach. It is only a matter of perspective.
The third step is to dehumanize the enemy, the less human the better. Enemies should never have normal human feelings, such as love, compassion and sorrow. They must be made to seem stripped of such capacities and turned into grotesque and mean-spirited monsters.
The fourth step is to inspire our young people to kill the enemy. This is not hard and is best done with flags, parades and appeals to country and heroism. The young should be excited to kill. They will be killing the killers who want to kill them.
The beauty of the system is that it is perpetual. By sending out our young men and women to kill the enemy, we will be making new enemies, justifying our need to prepare for war. And as the enemy sends out their young to kill ours, they will be confirming our belief in their inhumanity.
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© Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Your article on How Wars Are Made, May 4, 2011 was right on target. We are a war country. As General Dwight D.Eisenhower said, "Beware the military industrial complex"and General Butler, "War is a Racket."
We teach young chidren to walk in straight lines, obey rules, and not question authorithy.We make children pledge allegiance to the flag each morning and sing the Star Spangled Banner.
Our media and cartoons glorify violence which young children copy and use on others, especially the weak. Bullying is rampant.We dehumanize the person in order to hurt, control, and kill.
We encourage children to play computer games that test their killing ability.
We call our military heroes when they kill the "enemy." We hold parades, wave flags, and other methods to to celebrate their "braveness."
Ah, yes, while the poor fight for this country, the military, politicans, have joined forces with industry to get richer, control natural resources around the world, all in the name of "freeing them" from their evil rulers.
Again, thank you.
Just read War Lover by Mark Twain.