war & history

to war is human. on this lonely planet, life among the vast ocean of seething stars, war has been an inescapable reality for our species. to explain this undeniable thirst for conflict, many arguments have been proposed.

before tackling the why, we may first ask, is war a bad thing? in today's world more and more people are opposed to violence, but there are those who would not agree. at the outset of WWI, german writer and nobel laureate thomas mann wrote "Is not peace an element of civil corruption and war a purification, a liberation, an enormous hope?" i would not be surprised if many men of power, even in democracies, believed in some aspect of this statement. but why do such sentiments arise in the first place?

psychologically speaking, there is a theory that individuals from an early age identify "self" relative to others; children first comprehend this reality as the existence of an "I" and a "not I". This simple, yet essential actualization forms the basis for further growth of the individual. throughout our lifetime we continuously interact with, and measure, and compete against the people around us, continuously molding our sense of self.

in the same way, groups of peoples, whether they be tribes, states, or nations, also define their politics, doctrines, and values relative to other societies, past and present. although individuals within the group may hold slightly varying beliefs, as a collective, the group acts as a single entity, alive in its own right. thus, the group entity too has its own psychology; within this assimilated life form, there is a drive to assert itself over other groups, violently if need be.

within the group other factors also may increase the likelihood of agression. one is technology; a group lacking advanced military technology will rarely push for war, while a group with such advances may in fact act to maintain their "well-oiled war machine". a second factor may involve those in power within the group, asserting their power upon other nations in order to incite fear, hate, patriotism, and political lethargy among their own people. george orwell describes war in this way, an "opiate of the masses", whereby a state wields controls over its members.

others may argue that war is not inherent to man's psychological nature. agression may be an effect of the religious and ideological pressures in the society itself: agression by nurture, not nature. this mode of thought believes that if some society could be rebuilt and redesigned, taught to think it certain other ways, the act of war would eschewed by all.

fortunately, after horrors such as hiroshima and the many genocides, opinions such as mann's are rare (or not openly stated). nevertheless, misguided armed conflicts persist unheeded. perhaps, if our species survives long enough, our evolutionary ancestors will have the minds, the strength, and the resolve to realize kingdom come.

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as time passes, we must rely on the written word and documentaries as relics of past horrors. as the remaining survivors of WWII whither, the reality of the past becomes shaded and buried. no longer will we see live images of war veterans standing at rememberance day ceremonies, or the aged faces breathing still to tell their tales. once these men and women are gone, our efforts to remember last century's wars must be strengthened.

last year, a lost diary written by a north vietnamese doctor during the vietnam war was returned to the rightful family by an ex-american soldier. the writer, dang thuy tram, died during the war at age 27, leaving the end of the diary filled with empty pages. this year, the diary has been published as a book, and has sold in record numbers.

the diary is a stark reminder not only of the brutality of war, but also of the lonely, passionate suffering the victims feel - a reality almost always lost in today's textbooks and dry history lessons. excerpts,

Later, if you are ever able to live in the beautiful sunshine with the flowers of Socialism, remember the sacrifices of those who gave their blood for the common goal.

Please come to me and hold my hand when I am so lonely. Love me and give me strength to travel all the hard sections of the road ahead.

Just yesterday a badly wounded soldier 21 years old called out my name, hoping I could help him, but I could not, and my tears fell as I watched him die in my useless hands.

Oh! Why was I born a girl so rich with dreams, love, and asking so much from life?

unfortunately, it is too common that the heart wrenching tears of war are forgotten in the decades that pass. it is a pain we pray we do not know, but remember. read the full article here.