A review by inquiry_from_an_anti_library
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

 Is This An Overview?

To prevent a war that results in self-obliteration, requires an understanding of what war provides.  How war functions and changes behavior.  War is a destructive act, but tragically also has value.  War can become an addition, like any other.  War provides excitement, power, purpose, and meaning.  War removes the trivia, the shallowness of life.  Allows people to rise above the divisiveness.  War makes reality more understandable, by simplifying reality.  A clear dividing line is made between us and them.  Makes people ready to pursue suffering for a higher good.  Enables people to do evil, that is difficult to reconcile with after the war. 

War is perpetuated by myths, news, entertainment, and history.  Myths twist all information to serve the myth.  The myths are meant to separate people, to prevent communication with the opposition.  Myths invoke a threat to community’s sacred values, with the community perceived as the victims who are justified in their violent reciprocation.  With the myths, the opposition is demonized, with their values inverted to justify cruelty.  Wars that lose their mythic stature, are doomed to fail.  Without the myths, war becomes recognized as organized murder. 

 

By What Cause?

The cause needs to be just to fight.  Wars are difficult without an appropriate cause.  Which is why states take tremendous time and effort to promote their cause.  At war, the state becomes the guide for moral righteousness.  To try to expose the myth, would mean removal from the group.  Reporters provide legitimizing support for the for the state. 

Death of innocent ignite conflicts.  The innocent builds the cause.  Each group perceives themselves as victims.  Sharing and distorting the excess of others.  Victimhood is cultivated by showing the injustice carried out against their group.  Atrocities are justified by the atrocities of the opposition.

The dead do not have equal value.  The dead of others mean little, while the dead of supported group matter.  The opposition lacks humanity for killing, but the killing done by the supported group is praised.  War turns people into killers.  For want of power, or under peer pressure.  Martyrs provide a way to prevent arguments for compromise or tolerance.  The dead speak and ask for revenge.

 

Who To Silence?

The dissidents to conflict are the earliest to be silenced, for they are the most dangerous, as they provide an alternative way to think.  The opposition is not silenced, for they enable the sought after conflict.  Most people self-censor their views to not be branded as outsiders to their community.  Unwilling to help neighbors to prevent being attacked themselves. 

States destroy their own culture to prevent the people from finding critical and moral restraint.  Without the restraint, states are more effective in their attack against the opposition.  Replacing authentic culture with a warped reality.  Generating a conflict between good and evil.  To glorify the myth.  Seeing the humanity of the enemy makes for ineffective soldiers.  Therefore states obliterate self-awareness and self-criticism.  War removes individual consciousness and responsibility, in favor of communal effort.

The problem with silence, is that the silence of past atrocities, enables further atrocities.  War does not free people from ethics of responsibility.  But at times, immoral behavior needs to be reciprocated with less immoral behavior. 

The press sees itself as part of the war effort.  War is perpetuated by the news, as wars garner more views.  The press is being shown only what the military wants them to see.  The press share only what the state wants people to see.  The press show little of reality.  Reporting what makes people feel better about themselves. 

 

Is There A Difference Between How War Is Portrayed And Actual War?

Real conflict is very different than what is portrayed by the entertainment industry.  Most people do not behave the way they expected to in actual combat.  Imagined heroism is quick to fall apart.  Individuals betray themselves, for want of safety.  To avoid the primordial fear.  There are few heroes, who usually do not support what they did.  Combat humiliates.  Words used to inspire, become hollow and repugnant.

 

Caveats?

This book covers many sensitive topics, sensitive wars, sensitive traumas.  A diverse history is provided to support the claims.  But the history is limited.  To understand the history of the various conflicts would require more research.