With all the advancements of society why can't we avoid war?

Answer 1

Too much global testosterone.

(This is a part of a previous answer to a different question)

I was in the IRR when Iraq invaded Kuwait. I was so impassioned about it that I immediately called and scheduled my physical stating I wanted to go active just for that war.

I remember thinking to myself (no kidding), 'the world has advanced to a civilized state where the days of occupations and just invading a country so you can be the brut who takes it over, had ended.(I thought the days of the brut Roman Empire conquering nations just because you have the muscle were over)' I felt proud to fight for a civilized world and felt very proud to play a part in advancing that idea of civilization.

I feel as though all my faith and belief that I had at that time, have been destroyed.

I guess part of what I am saying is that advancements in medicine, health and welfare and social issues that you mentioned mean nothing compared to advancement in being a civilized nation. I honestly never believed this day would come for us... maybe the day when another Hitler emerged.. but I never thought for a second it would be us trying to conquer the world.

Btw, I can't answer the question you have. I too ponder what happened to diplomacy. I thought we had reached that point in our world but then a neanderthal became president... that is my only guess.

I remember things like Saddam himself going on 60 Minutes just two months before we invaded Iraq where he flat stated to Mike Wallace, "I DO NOT HAVE WMDs." Not saying he was a man to trust but that did make me think about it at the time... like why would he go that far if he was lieing and maybe we should take the UN's advice and give inspectors 6 more months like they had requested.

Then I remember something that took me two days to find in a PBS archive because I only heard it once: the Taliban offerred a deal to Bush on Sept. 18 & 19th, 2001 to hand over B.Laden to a nuetral country. They were concerned he would not get a fair trial so that is why the nuetral country. But the point is: why did Bush not accept that? Why was he so determined to occupy Afghanistan? He could have made an impression on the entire world that he had the bad guy and that we were going to remain a civilized, fair nation.

I'm kind of going on and on but it is because I understand your internal dilemma all too well. I too feel it.

I know a lot of ppl dog Clinton and I voted for Perot twice and not him; but, one thing does stick in my mind about him: a PBS interview I saw with him right after we invaded Iraq. He blatantly said that he believed Saddam was a threat to the world and that he needed to be dealt with. BUT, he went on to basically summarize the different methods and explained that sanctions were working. I mean afterall, there were no WMDs so he was right. He talked in depth about the different methods of dealing with this type of world conflict.I can't remember it verbatim but it really described a very civilized manner to go about this.

I'm saying that the ppl we have in Washington now are leading us down a dangerous path of self-destruction. And when I say self-destruction, I don't mean we will lose. I am saying we will win in the battles but we will have lost the war by losing everything our country (I thought) stood for.

Answer 2

It's the advancements in technology that make war so much more common and so much broader in scope.

Centuries ago, waging war required a long slow process of organizing troops, getting them to the field, and then dealing with the carnage afterwards. And wars were only generally fought either on the oceans between ships, or in mid-sized engagements close to home where troops could be deployed.

Now, wars can be found from long range, with rapid deployment, and using large scale bombardment. Wars can arise in days, based on global communications and threats of mass destruction. Enemies that couldn't be contemplated centuries ago can now be reached in hours.

But if you mean by "advancements of society" that you think people are more civilized now than they were, I must disagree. Humans as a species are just as filled with hatred and blood-lust and just as willing to use force to get what they want as any of our ancestors. The difference is that today we have much more effective tools with which to wage war, and much more advanced means of spreading our messages across the globe.

Answer 3

If you ask the people on the two sides of a war, they will both tell you they are peace loving. They are only doing what is necessary to ensure their way of life.

Until we accept the fact that others have the same rights as we do, there can never be peace. We won't let it happen. This being the case how can we expect others to feel any differently.

Even if you don't act on it, when you believe your way is the only true way, you are the problem. Tolerance is the only advance that will truly be able to end war.

Answer 4

We can,

but its not as simple, again those who say its impossible are have little minds that hold everyone else back.
but i can be done.

The wars we are in, are the price we are paying for
overthrowing democracies decades ago, or the remenants of greed, mulitnational corparte greed.

The economic intrest of corporations, note not countries but corporations is historically one factor that causes a chain reaction that leads to war even if it takes decades to manifest.


Its all very complicated, but if the U.N were really democratic not just the five permanent members with a veto, there could be at least a world sense of justice, and maybe less war....until no war.

Answer 5

We could probably avoid war (especially the illegal, worthless war in Iraq). However, the defense industry runs many politicians in our government (especially the current administration, Bush I is a big shot in the defense industry) and they need to make record-breaking profits!

Answer 6

It's human nature. The power to kill is the only power there is. If you tell a person to stop doing something, the may continue to do it. If you kill them, then they can never defy you again. You have asserted your supremacy and authority, and the person you killed can never challenge you ever again. We may become more peaceful people, but there will never be a day when violence is totally gone forever, because the incentive to use it is too great.

Answer 7

Because there is a certain lack of leadership. Diplomacy has taken a big "back seat" to hot war. (That's one of the reasons the UN has grown to be unpopular in some circles in America--unfortunate!)

Answer 8

should we have just swept all the debris into a hole in NY and at the pentagon, stuck a wreath in the ground in PA and said, tsk tsk.....those are bad guys and I hope they won't do that again? Just like we have done as Americans were targeted and killed by terrorists for close to 40years? I'm glad we're ridding the world daily of those ba$tards.

Answer 9

Technology has advanced tremendously. from rocks and sticks, to bow and arrows, to guided missiles. The intentions do remain the same.

Answer 10

Cause of oil grabbing cowboy-like unintelligent fascists in power.