War...huh...Yeah...What Is It Good For?

[lenguy]

I'll tell yeah...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!...or is it?

War has been the longest and most enduring of human practice. For what seems like eons, man has fought man in what seems like a never ending cycle of madness and destruction. From sticks and stones..to Bows and arrows...from swords to guns. War spreads across the globe like a virus infecting the weak and misleading those with a false purpose. People would say that war is in our nature, that we as a species are naturally violent and we need our fix to satisfy our impending blood lust. Others would say that war is a rotten habit that mankind must separate themselves with or else we will be forever spilling our own blood over ridiculous and petulant squabbles. War is a meaningless and barbaric ritual that whether or not you like, it has survived. But under that barbaric and senseless violence and destruction, does war hold something of more value?

Our modern world as a whole was built upon war after war to fold and shape our current society and countries. China for instance was once divide into smaller nations but the bigger nation of chin set out to unite the country and was successful and in doing so, the man responsible for this act became the first emperor of and newly united China. The United States, how different would things be if they had lost the Revolutionary war and lost their independence to Britian? Or even during the Civil war, what if the south had won? How different world the modern era be without the influence of the Roman empire? Or if we had lost in W.W 2? Many of you might not agree with the action of war but war I think plays an essential part in human history, whether you fight for freedom,religion or to satisfy your own country's growth and needs or for any other reason. War may not seem like the answer now but when its time to step up and protect your freedom or you country when the opposition is gunning for you with your end in mind..what choice do you really have?

Its also relevant to point out that in times of war it has pushed human ingenuity and forwarded technological advancements more often than in any other time. We could still be stuck in the 70s in terms of technology for all I know if not for both world wars. The idea of war has been with us since the dawn of man and has proved to be destructive and terrible but the meaning behind warfare could equally have a much different purpose. Its a habit that has been plagued with us for eons and has no sight of ever slowing down. For those who have witnessed it first hand and to those who hear about it. War can be both terrible,heartbreaking and push human endurance and sanity to the breaking point but ultimately behind all the savage eradication..there is a point, whether you agree with it or not. SO!

How do you feel about war?

Is there really any true purpose behind warfare?

Is warfare a habit and a cycle that will never be broken? Will war linger on our species until they day we no longer exist? Can we evolve past warfare and leave its ugly footprints in the sands of time

Is it possible for mankind to live in peace with each other as you so often hear people wish for "World Peace"

Will our ultimately prove to be to dangerous and costly for our species? Will we be destroyed by our own brothers and sisters? and cause our own demise

Thanks for reading!

 

[#hamler]

How do you feel about war?

Personally, I don't like it. War forces people to do something they would never even think about doing. War vets put their lives on the line for so many years only to suffer from poverty years later. Soldiers having to worry if a ten year old is carrying a weapon of some sort is a terrible image in which I would never wish to imagine. War has long term effects on anyone one involved. I don't particularly care for war.

Is there really any true purpose behind warfare?

Well, from a recent thread I did, I realized there is an actual point to war. Without it, we'd probably have nothing we have today. Technology, machines and overall people would be very different without war. However, opposing countries meet and solve their problems by signing a treaty or something, why not just do that before the war? War has freed millions of people and have actually saved many lives. That alone proves war does does have a purpose.

-Is warfare a habit and a cycle that will never be broken? Will war linger on our species until they day we no longer exist? Can we evolve past warfare and leave its ugly footprints in the sands of time?

-Is it possible for mankind to live in peace with each other as you so often hear people wish for "World Peace"?

-Will our ultimately prove to be to dangerous and costly for our species? Will we be destroyed by our own brothers and sisters? and cause our own demise

Just gonna combine these three somehow. It seems as if war is our answer to everything. When I say war I mean conflict and violence. We try and solve our problems using guns instead of our words. We will never change from that. Whether a country, or a single person, we won't ever have complete peace. It seems as if the people who want peace will fight for it. Weird huh?

I believe humanity will hurt themselves with war. Perhaps so bad to even wipe themselves out at one time or another. This may not be for millions of years but it seems likely. With our advances in technology, weapons are getting more advanced and causing more damage. 80 years ago, we had the atomic bomb, now we have the Hydrogen Bomb--the Starfish Prime Bomb from the 1960s was a bomb that 1000 times bigger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in the 1940s. There are even talks of using weather as a war weapon. Humanity is always trying to one up one another. It seems likely a nuclear war will ocurr sometime in humanity's future.

There is no stopping war. War will never go away. It's sad that people can't settle their differences by using words. War will one day come back and bite us.

 

[Барбоса]

Pretty certain that we have had this discussion recently but okay.

Everyone knows the drawbacks of warfare. There is a reason why it is considered one of the harbingers of doom as a Horseman of the Apocalypse.

However, without it mankind would be in a very different, much poorer state. War and its partner in crime conquest have spread many of the positives of advanced civilisation. Without the Persian, Chinese, Greek, Roman, British and other empires large parts of the world may not have been colonised - without war and the competition it breeds the Portuguese, Spanish, Italians, French and British may not have gone on their voyages of discovery.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

I remember there was a similar thread like this before and in the time gap, I think my opinion on the matter has slightly developed.

Many people claim that war has no real purpose: that all it is one massive slaughter house; Countless of people dying, countless of people getting injured, and in the end for what? – for more violence to come as a result?

The above statement is not entirely correct. War most certainly has a purpose. Whether it be to defend a country, protect a country from receiving harm, stopping an invasion, preventing the advancement of a global powerhouse, or even settling disputes – a war does this to resolve political and moral differences. It may be a bumpy ride, but the fact of the matter is, it’s all a means to an end. All the in-between is just a story – the outcome is what really matters.

Though, other than the reasons stated above, there are other great outcomes to a war such as advancement in said nation – specifically our nation. Had there never been an American Revolution, we’d of never even become the United States of America. Had there never been a WWII, America wouldn’t have been viewed as this almighty hero (or villain depending on the country in question). Point is, War contributes more to said nation than it hurts.

With that said, I don’t believe that war will ever cease. Mankind is a vile, twisted creature that will do anything to get what it wants. With this "want" embodied in all things human, comes the urge for power. And we all know how well the urge for wanting power turns out *. But my point is, so long as humans exist, so too will war. War is just one of those things that are a never ending cycle. It comes and it goes. And no matter how trivial the reason for it may be, it will still come.

*See Imperialism/global conquests

 

[ABMorales787]

Of course war has a purpose. That's why it starts in the first place. There's no "hey lets go kill" mentality at first. There never really is. There's always something to fight for. Oil, expanding your country and back in the days, self-preservation and conquest. Back in the Roman days all the way to the modern era, war was about ensuring your country and countrymen could live on. Fighting to expand territory and acquire it's riches. Yeah, you may have guys like.. Xerxes (?) who let it all go to their heads, but it's not like they intend to conquer by themselves for themselves. That's why you have an army. On the other side of things, like Leonidas and the 300, instead of waiting to be taken over, they set out and took the fight to the Persians. For what? To defend their smaller land.

That's generally the purpose of war. Self-preservation. It's a "Survival of the Fittest" world. If your country is too small or not prosperous enough, it will fall.