Anti War Books

April 10, 2011

Three books about war and its causes have been discussed recently. “The Most Dangerous Animal”, by David Livingston Smith, “War is a Lie”, by David Swanson, and “The Demonic Male”, by Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham. One reviewer said The Demonic Male was a political correct sexist book, saying the authors imply males are bad and females are good.

I think males would be more peaceful if there were ten females to each male. There would be enough sex to satisfy men’s natural curse to reproduce their genes. This would reduce their desire to kill off the competition.

As more women choose a military career over motherhood I don’t know if wars will decrease or remain the same. Surgical killings by a little woman flying a drone aircraft 10,000 miles from the attack may increase the little woman’s desire for glory and purpose since they will not have purpose as a traditional mother.

On one discussion blog one of the authors, David Swanson, said that humans did not make war before 12,500 years ago. I believe he was arguing that war is not as genetically programmed as he and others advocate. The simply reason there were no wars before 12,500 B.C. is humans were not mobile enough and densely populated enough to need war. The wheel and bronze metals had not been invented. The horse had not been domesticated. The population of the earth in 10,500 B.C. is estimated to have been only one to ten million. People were so sparsely populated and so far apart there was simply no opportunity for war. Humans had not settled down in one place to practice agriculture. Humans however did go to war with other animal predators and prey. Humans had to eat or be eaten. This could be the origin of the aggressive human gene.

Swanson also argued that war is NOT inevitable. I am starting to agree with this premise because more people are beginning to discuss the causes and the unnecessary wars. Just these three books indicate an argument about our behaviors that first have to be identified before they can be changed.

Another argument one of the authors makes for the positive side of humans is their ability to form social groups and not kill each other in the group. This is behavior based simply on survival and self interest. People form groups and set rules that say we will not kill each other or steal from each other, but, by being in a larger group we will be able to still carry out our genetic disposition to kill by killing others outside the group. By being in a social group there are greater chances to pass on one’s genes. By having a large group to raid another smaller group there is a greater chance to gain resources, and again, pass on the male genes through capturing the females, a resource.

The military nation in the U.S. has broad support. Too many people are related to someone in the military or someone making military products. 57% of the people in a recent poll did not want any reduction in the military budget, despite the enormous government debt. The military nation has become a big government bureaucratic program that has little to do with defending the United States. I believe under certain conditions the people of the United States would support a military coup.

There are 1.4 million active duty military personnel and 1.4 million military reserve personnel. Half are over the age of 25. About 60% are married. About 43% have children. As long as the mercenary military pay and benefits are good there will be plenty of people willing to join the military. Retire with 20 years service and collect a pension for 40 years!

During 2010 the total military fatalities killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were 559, less than ½ of 1% of active military personnel. Over 99% of the military personnel on active duty in 2010 survived. During World War Two there were over 16 million people on military active duty. 293,000 died in combat, less than a fraction of 1 percent. Compare that to the Soviet Union that lost 25% of its military personnel during WW II. People who join the U.S.military see the odds of surviving and reaping the glory and the opportunity to wear a few ribbons and march in parades. "All men are enamored of decorations...they positively hunger for them." Napoleon

People will cheer the U.S.S. Enterprise, a floating nuclear power plant anchored in a harbor of a densely populated city, but will scorn a privately owned nuclear power plant in an isolated rural area.

The U.S. Navy is going to allow males and females to serve together on U.S. Navy submarines. The first females will receive a lot of attention. This will garner support for the military funding as there are powerful female members in congress and the male members dare not critique females in the service or the male members of congress will not be reelected. The U.S. Navy has 53,000 females on activity duty. One would think the U.S. Navy could find an all female crew for a submarine among 53,000 women.

“The pioneers of a warless world are the [youth] who refuse military service.” ~Albert Einstein

Charles Tolleson