The Justification Of War

It occurred to me that my anti-war beliefs were solely based on my own perspective, and since war affects 6 billion people, I would better understand the reasoning behind war if I put myself in the shoes of those who choose to go to war

these thoughts began while watching stargate sg-1, a very popular sci-fi series (with a military setting- the air-force)

Now I’ve always known that people go to war for their country- and in my eyes that is stupid (why would anyone get themselves killed for the sake of their country- considering that other than the government, there is no difference between us and other countries, and in fact we all all human

but lately I’ve been thinking about the purpose of human beings. our purpose is what keeps us going, without it we are doomed.

after thinking about it for a couple minutes, I figured it out- our purpose is change.

one word, and yet is can sum up our purpose perfectly. the whole human history has been about change- that’s why we continue to strive for new technology and government. that’s why fashion changes every couple years. that’s why people are rarely satisfied with life as it stands. because we exist to bring about change.

and applying this to war:

War is the most effective and quickest way known to man to bring about change. thus, if a person fights in a war, they can die with more satisfaction than most people would who did not die in warfare. they can die knowing that their action brought about changes that would echo more through history than most of human being’s non-violent actions could otherwise. they have immortalized themselves as much as could be done.

thus, war brings about the greatest fulfillment of all elements of the existence of humans.

but I still wouldn’t be willing to go kill people, even if it is agreed, and even if I’m doing us both favors.

It just isn’t in my nature (plus to be honest, it’s a good thing I’m a pacifist because I have the worst reflexes in the universe)