I was on the side that took the "yes" position, so even though I can choose my stance here, I'm going to remain on the side. I do think war is inevitable. However, I do not think it is human nature. A lot of people on the "no" side used the argument that even when you're pushed against a wall, most people still could not end another person's life. I know Mr. Crotty said that war is not necessarily equal to killing, but I just do not think war and/or killing is in our DNA. Conflict, yes. But war, no. To me, war is inevitable for a different reason. It is not human nature, but it is a direct product of other qualities of humans. I know there are tons of pacifist and altruists out there, but as a whole, I would say that humans are greedy. I'm not calling out anyone, but looking back on history, every nation that has survived has done so by conquering others. I don't think Caesar woke up and felt the desire to wage war, but I feel like he, along with every other emperor, saw land that was not theirs and desired to take it using any means necessary. This is what I think is the root of war. The human desire to expand, to conquer, and to flourish.
Be it over land, resources, freedom, or any number of causes, when something that you are willing to die for is threatened, most will do anything to protect it. So in terms of war being human nature: I think war is a response to many other aspects of human nature, which in turn, makes it inevitable.
7 comments:
I agree with you that war is ineveitable yet not inherent in humans. Until humans are so drugged out that they can no longer avoid conflict, wars will keep happening. I think society is too advanced for wars to suddenly stop happening. I just do not think something like that is realistic for multiple reasons. The only way i think wars will stop is if far in the future there was only one race of people all living under the same rule/conditions.
I think that war is both inevitable and inherent. I came to this conclusion on the basis of some of the points you have in your post. You say "this is what I think is the root of war. The human desire to expand, to conquer, and to flourish". Although you make a good point that this doesn't always lead to warfare, I would say, looking back on history, that 99.9% of the time, the only way to conquer and expand was to wage war. Although I am disagreeing with you in my comment, I still like your argument, its very convincing.
Really interesting points. Nobody took the side you proposed and I think your idea is very true. I like that you argue that war is not a part of our inherent nature but it is still inevitable. I think the greed you talk about should really be thought of us power. However, we should notice who typically starts wars; those in power. You say near the end of your post that, "when something that you are willing to die for is threatened, most will do anything to protect it." I think in most cases, the powerful people were not willing to die for it, rather they were willing to let others die. We don't see Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld in Iraq.
I think it's an interesting take on the topic and I think I agree with it. I like how you propose an alternate theory too, saying it's not human nature but it's related to things that are human nature.
I think of all the posts i have read so far this is the one that has stood out most to me. I agree with almost everything you said. I really liked the idea that you impose at the end which is that the concept of war being a response to other aspects of human nature. I also agree with the fact that it is inevitable, which I believe can be easily overlooked.
I liked your post a lot Paul. Your main point and basis for this whole class (in my opinion) was when you said... "when something that you are willing to die for is threatened, most will do anything to protect it." Our nature is not to go kill someone, but when we are in a certain situation everybody has a different reaction. But as a race, people will do anything to protect what they are will to die for.
I agree with your post. I like how you said its a human desire to expand and flourish; an option of accomplishing these tasks is by war. It is quite interesting to step back and look and realize its inevitable but not inherent.
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