Veterans' Day

O Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name! -Jeanne-Marie Roland, revolutionary (1754-1793)

On this Veterans' Day, like all other Veterans' Days, politicians and war lovers will praise those who sacrificed for our freedoms. No critique will be made of how many men died and suffered horribled wounds in unnecessary wars. The praise from politicians is to promote war so future generations of young men will be willing to "sacrifice" their lives in more unnecessary wars.

The late writer William Styron lamented that man was the only animal that killed its own kind, deliberately. So one can ask the question, why do Baboons not kill other Baboons deliberately?

Baboons and other animals fight one on one in hand to hand combat. As soon as one sees defeat, the weaker will run away and escape, alive. When attacked by a cruise missile as man uses, there is little chance to run away and survive before you realize you are defeated. Baboons do not have the mental capacity to operate a rifle, or to launch a cruise missile, or fire artillery. They do not have an opposable thumb that moves in a wide range like the human thumb. If they had the same capacity as man, I am sure Baboons would be forming groups of males to kill other males. Notice they rarely form groups to kill females.

Man kills for various reasons. Greed, jealously, fear, false beliefs, drunken rage, and even pleasure, as demonstrated by serial killers.

Man also kills in groups. Man bands together to kill other groups, all in the name of defense and patriotism and other platitudes. We give all kinds of reasons for killing other humans.

I believe these are all excuses, not the real reason. We often hear about the sacrifice of the soldiers. We even resort to calling any soldier killed in a traffic accident in Iraq a hero. We glorify the dead soldier with military funerals and memorials. This only encourages future generations of young men to take a risk at achieving glory.

We always talk about the what, how, where, and when of war, but seldom do we ask why. Only a rare few inquire as to why man is so violent against his fellow man. "War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning" by Chris Hedges gives us insight as to why man enjoys war. However, I think there are many other things that give our lives meaning, without war. Nor does Hedges' book explain why individual men enjoy killing other men outside war.

I suspect the reason men kill other men is simple to eliminate the competition for mating. Nature made men have a strong desire to mate. Nature made it so the strongest male would mate. This is how the species becomes stronger against other species that are also growing stronger. Of course, a cruise missile launched by a weak female can kill the strongest males.

Bilbo Baggins (Charles Tolleson)