Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Treating Your Military-industrial Complex



Peace is intolerable. Otherwise mankind would have more of it. Benevolent despotism is the closest thing that most societies know when it comes to peace. Tito for instance was a forceful integrator of his country's warring ethno-religious factions. When he died, all hell broke loose and the Bosnians, Serbs and Croatians went at it. The collective memory of never forgotten historical transgressions resurfaced in places like Sarajevo and Srebrenica. Ancient sites that were the repository of never forgotten conflict again seethed as the embers of long simmering hatred reignited new conflagrations. The human race seems to need the adrenalin rush of hate and there are no shortage of leaders who carry messages of anger which act like a drug over seething mobs of desperados. In Weimar Germany it was the lumpenproletariat, aimless former soldiers and unemployed workers who were stirred up by Hitler’s broadsides and speeches. Tyrants provide wonderful antidotes, giving a sense of purpose or calling (beruf) to those suffering from self-hatred, boredom and depression. Client states like Syria and Yemen become the proxies in the larger battles between varying parties and religious sects. In fact, if there seems to be a choice between turmoil or peace homo sapiens ultimately choose the tribal or warrior approach in which varying constituencies find little or no identity with each other's desires and needs. When you think about it, there’s always some reason to hate thy neighbor. Loving him or her is a higher bar to jump.

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