NationStates Jolt Archive

is war ever ok? I've just been inspired by watching an ep of Band Of Brothers (its brilliant), and its solidified my thoughts of the last few months - war is never justifed. Nothing is worth taking another human life... nothing.

opinions?

War, to be just, should only be waged in self defence, and still, War is the LAST resort that anyone should go to: Since it is the biggest waste one can conceive, only when all other practible options are out of question.

If both sides did not want war, there would be no war.

Look at the Cold War, Kennedy and Kruschev were at completely different ends of the ideological spectrum, but both knew the ramifications of war and were able to keep their nations from engaging in it, even at a time when both nations were itching for it.

War is unfortunate yes, but one should not shy from entering a war that defends the culture and life of the country in the face of adversity. If it means getting conquered and reformed to fascist ideals, by all means, yes. If it means elminating terrorist cells and stopping terror plans in their tracks, by all means, yes.

War is good. Some regimes need a good ass whooping. I'm looking at you Sudan.

War is necessary but unfortunate. The price of human lives is the down side to war. But I notice how other people say that war is only for defense...That makes no since. If war was only for defense, then there would be no wars at all, because all wars must have an agressor, and they are the one that invades, and thats not self defense.

War is good. Some regimes need a good ass whooping. I'm looking at you Sudan.


LOL sudan is sooooo scared. :p

How about IRAN, if the states gets a terrorist nuke attack you know it came from this shithole....

War - it is a tragic necessity to human nature.

I do not believe we can ever outgrow it, nor do I think it is beneficial to. What if, in that final war humanity fights, along with losing our desire to fight war we lose our desire to defend our freedom (through war, obviously)?

If tyranny were to rear its ugly head, the people, so tired of war, would accept facism as a means to avoid war. We must, to some degree, accept war as a necessary means to defend our liberties

War is a horrible part of the world, but unfortunatly is inevitable. Human nature alone will keep it here. It is a matter of time, before it becomes widespread.

Sometimes I think that freedom and war go hand in hand. As long as there are people to protect freedom, shall they make war upon those who do not support that cause.

No offense to anyone intended, BTW.

War is neccesary.

Victory is good, defeat is bad.

this reminds me of that song that goes ...."WAR what is it good for." then a little voice says somthing that I cant spell lol....ok well war is a hard subject War is needed because most people just wont listen and will continue LIKE THE GERMANS Hitler killed the jews and invaded country's he wouldn`t listen to anyone and backstabbed Russia. Russia feeling threatend couldn`t send a little guy to talk to germans into giving up of cource so what other choice but fight. War is needed but somtimes is used at wronge times. Like the U.S. in Iraq why are we there (To save another country) Like always the U.S. becomes like the world police and feeles obligated to protect country's that havn`t sent us threats saying OH WERE GUNNA KILL YOU.

War, to be just, should only be waged in self defence, and still, War is the LAST resort that anyone should go to: Since it is the biggest waste one can conceive, only when all other practible options are out of question.

Bush had some of practible options before he went ot iraq.

Thomas Jonathan Jackson once said, "War is the sum of all evils." Robert E. Lee once said, "It is well that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it."

I say, war is a violent, bloody, terrible thing -- anyone can tell you that. It can serve both hero and villian, alike. It plays a key role in human history and it shall continue to until we die off as a species. Some wars (the American War for Independance or World War II, for example) are justified and worth every drop of blood that was spilled and every life that was taken. Other wars (American Civil War, World War One, Vietnam, for example) are unjustified in their intentions, no matter how leaders will paint their efforts as noble.

words such as hero and villian are all in the eyes of the beholder... One persons villian is anothers hero... I myself think that war is a horrid travesty, and should not happen, but the human race will never lose its lust for conquest... I agree that war will not end until the human race is abolished... So, why don't we help it along and prevent war in the future... Start killing random people, and stop reproducing... The world is better off without us...

War is good for business. Ferengi rules of acqusition.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/war.php
That's what war is about.

War! Huh! Good God, y'all!

What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'! Say it again!

I saida-a war, I despise. Cuz it means destruction of innocent lives. War is caused by sumthin, sumthin, sumthin, and destruction, WHO WANTS TO DIE?

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Is Edwin Starr alive, or did he die?

words such as hero and villian are all in the eyes of the beholder... One persons villian is anothers hero... I myself think that war is a horrid travesty, and should not happen, but the human race will never lose its lust for conquest... I agree that war will not end until the human race is abolished... So, why don't we help it along and prevent war in the future... Start killing random people, and stop reproducing... The world is better off without us...

Wow. That makes so much sense. Save people from war by killing off the human race. Please tell me you're joking.

Moreover, words such as "hero" and "villian" are not just words, they are tangible concepts, similar to "good" and "evil."

"Look at the Cold War, Kennedy and Kruschev were at completely different ends of the ideological spectrum, but both knew the ramifications of war and were able to keep their nations from engaging in it, even at a time when both nations were itching for it."

Yeah, and Kruschev was put into a gulag after backing down from Kennedy, woo!

War! Huh! Good God, y'all!

What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'! Say it again!

I saida-a war, I despise. Cuz it means destruction of innocent lives. War is caused by sumthin, sumthin, sumthin, and destruction, WHO WANTS TO DIE?

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Is Edwin Starr alive, or did he die?

You know, I was just thinking of that song :p

War is a necessary evil.

There will always be those who are, for lack of a better word, 'evil'. The 'evil' people will more than likely be the opressors and the 'not evil' people will have to wage war for their own defense. Not necessarily for their own benift.

I believe that the term 'World Peace' is an oxymoron. There never will be world peace. The only thing that peace has to offer is war. Evil people will never cease to exist and there will be consistant disputes as to how people should live their lives. Because of this, wars are ineed inevitable.

War suck and is good at the same time, war makes fire...me like fire...but y'know people die and all those bad things so it sucks...BUT FIRE!!!

sucks*

good and evil aren't tangible dude, they are thoughts, and they are in the eye of the beholder

good and evil aren't tangible dude, they are thoughts, and they are in the eye of the beholder

Oh, but they are tangible concepts, Joe. There are evil people in this world. There can be no doubting that.

I think that, morally, war has no positive qualities, though it's inevitable and will always happen. But inter-species competition is natural. I'm currently reading Ants at Work by Deborah Gordon. Desert harvester ants, or Pogonomyrmex barbatus, which the author, an accomplished entomologist, is mainly focused on and obsessed with, compete and even fight with each other if colonies are close enough for foraging areas to overlap. Humans, or Homo sapiens, do much the same thing, just on a much larger and more destructive scale. Though this isn't accomplished in desert harvester ants, I believe that wars are at least partially for population control, as well as eliminating weaker humans from the gene pool, acting as natural selection. This may not be completely true, but I think there's a least a kernel of verity in it.

War is good at keeping the populaiton down a bit, and is necessary sometimes, but it isn't really good at all. A war like WW2 is good, but Iraq is not.

We shouldn't have greedy good for nothing but improving the economy leaders in the first fuckin place! i think ordinary citizens need to realise that we've all inherited this planet together so why should we let some people (selfish politician scum) have more say than others? soldiers have no reason for going to war, they are just pawns in the big power games world leaders play so i'm asking why the hell should we do as they bid?

i think ordinary citizens need to realise that we've all inherited this planet together so why should we let some people (selfish politician scum) have more say than others? soldiers have no reason for going to war, they are just pawns in the big power games world leaders play so i'm asking why the hell should we do as they bid?
Why? Why, you ask? Because we let them. The citizenry allows this to happen, especially in democratic states, and it is the people's fault. As evil as politicians are, we the people put them there.

sometimes war is neccesary, but if a leader thinks some cause is worth dying over, he should go to war too.

Humans fight humans, no matter the scale of one on one, 50 to 50, or nation against nation. So yes, it is necessary.

Is war good? Yes, in some circumstances. If the United States didn't go to war in WWI or WWII, how many more lives would have been lost? Also helped yank us out of the Depression, so war is even good for the economy (at least in the short term).

Remember: There is no such thing as a Utopia. Mankind won't allow it. It's not in our nature. Dystopias, however, are quite possible.

Also helped yank us out of the Depression, so war is even good for the economy (at least in the short term).
Actually, WWII was the largest factor in getting the U.S. out of the Great Depression. F.D.R.'s New Deal only went so far, though it did help, it didn't do nearly enough. And wars typically are good for the economy as a rule, unless they drag on too long (this is mainly for the post-industrial era, I really am unsure of how it was economically before).

Can someone quote us Patton and that Man loves to fight?

Basicly putting it down, we're all still barbarians deep down somewhere.

as one of my favorite authors/song writers wrote:

Two men walked on the beach in the sun.
One left footprints, the other left none.
One was a man who no man obeys;
The other a god from the ancient days.

"Look," said the man, "how my kind make war.
I summonned you here to ask what for."
"For wealth or land," the god replies,
"For life, or freedom, or some king's lies."

CHORUS:
"The sun is also a warrior.
Knowledge can also destroy.
Nor can the kindest will,
Preserve you from the kill.
Not all of wisdom brings joy."

"Four of those five," the first one said,
Are not enough to appease the dead.
To save my world all this strife must cease,
So now I bid you to conjure peace."

The god said "Yes. Though it grieves me sore,
For I was also a god of war,
And I remember what you forget,
Four of those five you may still regret."

CHORUS

He raised his voice and he raised his hand.
All strife stopped at the god's command.
No voice ventured an angry word,
No hand struck and no weapon stirred.

In time, the man called the old god back.
"Look," he cried, "what my people lack!
One lord rules over all the earth,
And we're all his slaves from the hour of birth."

CHORUS

"Look, he owns all wealth, and he owns all land,
We starve and die under his command.
He speaks the truth and he gives us peace,
But all that I hope for is our release."

The old god said, "This is what you willed.
For only thus is your wish fulfilled.
War's five sources I took away,
Yet I will give four of them back today."

CHORUS

He raised his hand and his voice once more,
And all the world overturned in war.
And when the last of those fires let fall,
There was no lord in the world at all.

"Go rebuild now," the old god said,
"Feed the living and bury the dead,
And remember this when you speak of war,
And think upon what is worth fighting for."

CHORUS

Cool.

"If the United States didn't go to war in WWI or WWII, how many more lives would have been lost?"

Not many that is for sure. The WWII had already been won by Sovjet and their total war against facism. Sure, at the beginning of the war one german soldier was worth five sovjeties, but at the end it was hardened weterans from sibir who tok berlin and one of those was now worth three germans. Beside the mighty T-34 came in such grate number that germany had no chance.

In WWI the germans were already loosing this a little bit thanks to america. Not the american soldiers but the america/briton trade. Germany was defeated because they had to fight three fronts: Briton and France from the west. Italy from the south. and Russia from the east. When Russia pulled out of the due to the red revolution the damage had already been done. WillhelmII of Preusen could talk of glory as much as he wanted, Germany had lost.

Oh. On the mather of war. Its in the human nature thats for sure, but the human nature can be forsed down. On the other hand: Five BILLION people has died from war year 0-2000 and that is just on the battlefields! (this is a unsertan calculation of course, but one done by proffesors with to much time at hand) This does not count women and child dying from starvation afterward. If al these people hadd been alowed to live, then the world would not be able to feed or uphold such a mass of men.

bump

as one of my favorite authors/song writers wrote:

Two men walked on the beach in the sun.
One left footprints, the other left none.
One was a man who no man obeys;
The other a god from the ancient days.

"Look," said the man, "how my kind make war.
I summonned you here to ask what for."
"For wealth or land," the god replies,
"For life, or freedom, or some king's lies."

CHORUS:
"The sun is also a warrior.
Knowledge can also destroy.
Nor can the kindest will,
Preserve you from the kill.
Not all of wisdom brings joy."

..........

maybe im being ignorant, but who wrote that?

maybe im being ignorant, but who wrote that?Leslie Fish.
Sci-fan writer and filk singer.

Oh. On the mather of war. Its in the human nature thats for sure, but the human nature can be forsed down. On the other hand: Five BILLION people has died from war year 0-2000 and that is just on the battlefields! (this is a unsertan calculation of course, but one done by proffesors with to much time at hand) This does not count women and child dying from starvation afterward. If al these people hadd been alowed to live, then the world would not be able to feed or uphold such a mass of men.
theres more than enough food to go around and feed the world dude, just some countries like to keep it all for themselves. there's a valley (rather large one) in California i drove through while on holiday there a couple of years back that the guide-book said is so fertile its annual produce would be enough to feed 95% of the world's population.

theres more than enough food to go around and feed the world dude, just some countries like to keep it all for themselves. there's a valley (rather large one) in California i drove through while on holiday there a couple of years back that the guide-book said is so fertile its annual produce would be enough to feed 95% of the world's population.Unfortunatly, it will only stay fertile with proper land management.

besides, USA feeds most of the world already. some countries however, don't want US's produce because we genetically alter our fruits and Veggies for optimum Nutrition/shelf life.

Perhaps reverse the question:

What price is one willing to pay for peace?

For my part, I of course despise war but believe that peace cannot be left to keep itself. Sometimes war is needed.

As Clausewitz said "War is politics by other means".

Perhaps reverse the question:

What price is one willing to pay for peace?

For my part, I of course despise war but believe that peace cannot be left to keep itself. Sometimes war is needed.

As Clausewitz said "War is politics by other means".Freedom isn't free.

The price increases as the methods of those who want what America has improves.

Look at it this way, from the war is good perspective. Where did we get nylon, rayon, polyester and other synthetic products from? WWII era creations. Boeing, the world's greatest commercial aircraft manufacturer (707- 767, etc.) got its experience making the finest bombers (B-52's). Penicillin, and vaccines of all sorts are from these developments. Development of the Nuclear reactor was made after the bomb. After the world wars, the balance of power shifted dramatically. Even the space race was done during the cold WAR. The US, once looked at as a piss weak, 3rd world nation, became THE world power. Britian and the other European nations lost it's territories in Africa, India, the Middle East, West Indies, etc.

Look at it this way, from the war is good perspective. Where did we get nylon, rayon, polyester and other synthetic products from? WWII era creations.
Where do you think we got chemical pesticides from? Where do you think widespread use of DDT originated?

The classification of war, the justification of war, and the appreciation of war depend entirely upon which end of the gun you sit.

The classification of war, the justification of war, and the appreciation of war depend entirely upon which end of the gun you sit.... and where the bullet lands.