War and Violence ... It Goes On and On

I knew it ... I knew that the U.S. invasion of Iraq would set a bad precedent for the world. Now Russia invades Georgia. Next Iran will try some military action. Yeah, the United States did it, so can we. And the United States has nukes but we are telling Iran to get rid of theirs? We are all big hypocrites, baby.

There are creative ways to gain objectives without resorting to war. So, yes, we can justify the Russian invasion by saying they were coming to the aid of their friends, the South Ossetia separatists. Of course, the U.S. could say we wanted to liberate Iraq from an evil dictator. There is always justification for war, but it takes real maturity and creativity to pursue peace. Peace is the MORE DIFFICULT option.

I'm not a pacifist and believe that war is moral in two cases: self defense and the defense of a friend. But both of these are gray areas. For instance, did one side provoke the other? Did one side stage an incident? It happens, man.

The best solution is to always, ALWAYS work for peace. Yeah, call me a whimp. I got into a good fistfight at age 10, but then started backing down from them. Why? Because I thought that fighting was senseless. Okay, I decked a guy at age 15 because he was harassing a girl I liked. I warned him repeatedly before giving him a bloody nose. That was my last act of violence, although I spanked my oldest child, and now I regret that.

Violence begets violence, and pretty soon one nation is nuking another nation, and then one day every nation will let loose their salvos and this beautiful planet, along with its billions of people and wonderful wildlife, will become a dark cinder, floating through space.

And while I'm at it, I oppose the death penalty too. It's still hard for me to say that, and there are plenty of human monsters who DESERVE to die, but the cycle of endless violence must stop somewhere. The state represents the collective conscience of the people and must be held to the highest levels. The state must not lower itself by engaging in violence.

As for the evil, rabid people out there who commit the heinous crimes, maybe that could be minimized if parents spent more time with their kids, or if people started doing more loving and caring for one another, or if someone actually took the time to talk to some alienated outcast. Crime is simply a side effect of our sick, dysfunctional society. And the gut reaction is to just stomp and kill what is bad. However, it takes a lot more work to get to the root of what makes people evil. I am not excusing anyone for their actions by any means — I'm a strong believer in personal choices and responsibility. I'm just saying we need to take a holistic look at crime and violence.

So, in conclusion, I dear say that war is our primitive side coming out to play. Will our rational, logical side ever rise above it? Is it that much fun to play with our life size warplanes and tanks? Is war necessary to purge the violent genes still gushing in our gene pool? Do we need to kill off more aggressive young men before they reach reproductive age, lest they pass on their warrior genes to another generation?

Uuugh, I'm too tired to think about it.

Todd