Do we really need a reason for war, or is it inevitable, so should we stop making up reasons?
War is a flux, like prices, and wind, and waves on the ocean. Watch two monkey tribes in the forest. One day, one of the tribes will up and start invading the territory of the other. They wade in to the other monkey tribe's land and bash heads. They take over for a while. Then after a while, the subju-monkeys have a revolt and toss out the monkey invaders. In all their years of oberving monkeys bio/zoologists have yet to see a successful invasion that lasted. It goes on tit for tat all throughout monkey time.
I wrote a thesis for a sociology course one time basing it on Konrad Lornez, On Aggression, and Robert Ardrey, Territorial Imperative and African Genesis. I used the observation model of monkey tribes to rationalize human behaviour in groups and the outcome of their formal agressions. It was rejected by the soc. prof, who was touting B.F. Skinner's behavioural science as the new age thinking. He said, "animal behaviour is not sociology." Grade -F.
I think not. There are too many parallels. I also studied invasions and migrations throughout time, starting with the Golden Bough and some of the new archeaology that was not too widely yet accepted. People at the time were still buying Toynbee's take on things. They still do. This will change. Better to look at the evidence then form the theory. I figured out by reading Gibbon, and Thucydides that Toynbee erred. We are not the Romans, but we think we are.
Human invasions can be more successful, but strange things happen. In time the invaded get control of their society again, with all attendant cultural changes, but they now think of themselves as the invaders. Go to South America and meet the descendants of the Conquistadores. I think Pizarro would have been shocked to see them.
If we want to figure what people will do today, all you have to do, is look back 200 years to 4000 years. They will do exactly as their ancestors did. Same thing, over and over. I know what the outcome of the middle east war will be. I know why the Arabs are kicking up a fuss and what they will do in the next 50 years. And what we will do.
The war is about resources and lack of it. But it isn't our lack of resources. We have plenty of resources. The Arabs are being aggressive because they lack resources. Water ,food, trees, shade.. oil. iron, aluminum.. Kit Kat Bars. etc.. Naturally they couch it in religious terms etc.. all wars are fought for holy reasons. Want to get a dummy to die for nothing, or so you can stay rich and comfortable, then tell him God commands it. It worked for the Crusades. They are in effect supporting invasion. We have 7 million desert Wahabii bedouins in our country today. What are they doing here? Ran out of Lizard meat. Lizard meat is much cheaper in the US supermarket. The lesson of 9-11? Lower the price of Lizard meat, or we are going to get tough.
EC<:-} |
