05-27-2020, 02:40 AM
I would note that wars tend to occur where the culture in question has enough resources to fight them. Poor cultures, such as those who dwell in the arctic or the mountains, tend to be relatively peaceful. Only when lands are rich and the culture is in many ways successful do you have the resources available to spend on armed forces.
In many ways this could be an argument for population pressure. If you have a surplus of people and labor, the drive towards violence is often given freer rein. You have to get rid of the surplus.
But the elites and leaders have something to do with it. You have to have somebody that believes they have a military advantage over somebody else. That does make a difference. If the elites and leaders see a risk in starting a confrontation, they might not. The whole Domino Theory schtick is making sure everybody can see that risk. The idea of peace through strength is to make sure the risk is formidable and visible.
Thus putting the emphasis on xenophobic troops causing incidents ignores the role of elites and leaders in recognizing a violent opportunity. The US might well have shown a disregard for the Iraqi population early in Bush 43’s war. I don’t see that as the cause of the war. It was either the oil or the alleged WMDs that convinced the leaders that war was worth the negligible risk. It is instinctive for leaders to risk other people’s lives to acquire territory and resources. It is making this risk riskier that is the greater concern today.
In many ways this could be an argument for population pressure. If you have a surplus of people and labor, the drive towards violence is often given freer rein. You have to get rid of the surplus.
But the elites and leaders have something to do with it. You have to have somebody that believes they have a military advantage over somebody else. That does make a difference. If the elites and leaders see a risk in starting a confrontation, they might not. The whole Domino Theory schtick is making sure everybody can see that risk. The idea of peace through strength is to make sure the risk is formidable and visible.
Thus putting the emphasis on xenophobic troops causing incidents ignores the role of elites and leaders in recognizing a violent opportunity. The US might well have shown a disregard for the Iraqi population early in Bush 43’s war. I don’t see that as the cause of the war. It was either the oil or the alleged WMDs that convinced the leaders that war was worth the negligible risk. It is instinctive for leaders to risk other people’s lives to acquire territory and resources. It is making this risk riskier that is the greater concern today.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
