Is war really necessary?

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By Briana Booker

   In class we have discussed whether war was necessary. In some instances I think war is necessary. Sometimes, people have to experience negative consequences to allow positive change in behaviors. I do not like the thought of war, but I know that not all conflicts can be resolved verbally nor can they be walked away from by any means. I say this not by observations of society, but the natural state of nature. Nature demonstrates inequalities, for one to survive, sometimes another must die. War in nature has nothing to do with emotions, simply instinct. But most people say humans are different because we have the ability to rationalize our actions. We have the ability to articulate our discontentment and flaws. We have the ability to know right from wrong. But is this a gift or a curse to have the ability to rationalize? Is it a gift or a curse to feel emotions, to know you are alive and have the ability to hurt?

 I know in most monotheistic religions people say the word of God and of God’s prophets is to love. Not love specific people or things but to love. It is the word of God. But at the same time I see violence in scripture. It demonstrates to me that violence is part of life. Survival of the fittest flows in my head when all else fails. I am not saying it is wrong or right. But I am asking what makes war right? What makes peace right? Both seem emotionally driven in every sense of the word. Most wars are fought based on clashes of beliefs and clashes on how systems are ran. Most peace comes when people learn to compromise. People learn that they gain more by being at peace. I find both war and peace self-fish attributes because they still consist of gaining something at the expense of someone else.                                                                                                

For example, in war the United States motto was ‘it is not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?’ Yet troops lose their lives everyday in a war I feel can not be won simply with violent tactics.

Or how people say we must make peace, to protect our own securities. It is still self-fish in context, but at the same time I would rather choose peace over war.  From my own personal experience, war is only a short-term solution. It makes no one happy or better off in the long run. However, sometimes I think it is necessary when the need of communication is prevented, yet a threat is still imposed. But perhaps that is a debate for different day.