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Politics The Town Voice Balanced

The Disappearing Causes of War

By Arlon Staywell RICHMOND — Articles like this one and various writings, speeches, musings and art have been made since the dawn of time that war was about to become obsolete. Obviously most of them were premature.
Exactly why people thought the art of war would become obsolete and exactly why it did not should be clear from the article in the Science section, Essential Overview of History. The idea that the "known world" or a significant portion of it under one government precluded future wars was put on a constantly revised timetable as the "known world" expanded.
Importance of Communications
It has long been understood that communication could prevent war, that people naturally preferred rational solutions to their differences as more efficient and expedient. Contributing to the fall of Rome was that the size of the Empire was so challenging to communication. Greek logic, systems of roads and aquaducts and the "Pax Romana" gave hope that war was finished at last forever. We now know those hopes were dashed.
Later it was recognized that some differences were perhaps unavoidable. They were not however in the long run able to sustain any war, some regional differences are sensible and acceptable. The United States was founded on ideas like that.
Great hope was then placed in the League of Nations and the telegraph. It is now obvious that the hope was premature at that point also. It must be understood though that the transatlantic telegraph cable was an enormous undertaking with great expense of time, labor and material and would not have been made merely to exchange muffin recipes. It was hoped that a world in better communication would more easily avoid war.
It can perhaps be said that the struggle between communication and debate on one side and less efficient, more violent means on the other came to head in the Vietnam Conflict. It was the first "war" (undeclared by the United States) covered by communication satellites. There was live or nearly live coverage of various skirmishes and battles on network television in most living rooms across the United States. It was therefore called the "living room war" (later "the first" living room war). Satellite equipment was much bulkier in those days and video tapes were often made some hours journey from the uplink equipment and so were "nearly" live. Today's satellite equipment is far more portable and truly "live" coverage is more possible. The point here though is that the coverage was "live" enough during the Vietnam Conflict to evoke a strong reaction in the masses. Radio coverage was possible but limited in World War I; coverage of World War II reached many people through radio and the newsreels shown at motion picture theaters. It was however the "instant" pictures from the Vietnam Conflict that likely enflamed the strong protests. It was without a doubt the most vehemently protested armed conflict in history.
It should be a great cause of wonder why military actions since then are not similarly protested. One reason is perhaps that our leaders have wisely avoided sustaining any conflict. It was very important for later conflicts to be "over" before any massive protest could organize. Each new action was criticized as being the possible start of another "quagmire" like Vietnam where U.S. soldiers kept dying and there appeared no progress.
Another possibility there is lately so little protest against armed conflicts involving the United States is that large numbers of people have decided to support the military despite any clear need for military action. There is more on this point in the article on Cultural Inversion following later.
In order for there to be a "war" there has to be a significant difference between at least two countries or groups with a sufficient nationalistic identity to function as countries. Territorialism without something else behind it is insufficient cause for war in the modern world.
In the past differences over slavery resulted in the Civil War. Differences between capitalism and communism resulted in several wars and loomed as the cause of more.
No Place to Run
There will never be another war against slavery since it has been recognized worldwide as a backward institution with no major world power to support it.
Communism is also unlikely to be the cause of future wars. The reason is that "capitalist" countries are more and more "corporate." Corporations own so much business and land that the image of the evil private landlord is all but gone. With the differences between such "corporately" managed countries and "communist" countries continually declining it would make no sense at all for a war. As the island nation of Taiwan becomes more corporate and the "communist" People's Republic of China becomes less communist a reunion is likely, though perhaps not soon, by a mere vote.
Korea might remain two countries, but not over differences of their economic systems, not in the future.
This returns us to the question why U.S. citizens might be so little opposed to military action now as compared to Vietnam. No candidate, Democrat or Republican, has told the truth that the United States military is several times larger than it needs to be and seems to have far more popular support than can be readily qualified. It could be a huge mistake to think that Americans dislike Muslims more than communists.
There is a glimpse of the last reason for war, because people simply "believe" in war.
The "reasons" or circumstances of their belief vary. Some are from the "country" areas as described in Cultural Inversion. Some are from the "city" areas and believe a military paycheck is the only financial security they will ever know. Others believe for a variety of superstitious and groundless "reasons." The real causes of war are however disappearing just as this article describes. What would have been the purpose of finding the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? The military seems supported by all candidates anyway! What would have been the point of capturing Saddam if he had none? If establishing democracies is the goal, why not establish one in Kuwait? The "reasons" for war are becoming increasingly difficult to manufacture and difficult for sensible people to accept.
It will not be attempted here to argue that the military was not important in the abolition of slavery or that it did not play a significant role in reducing racial discrimination over a hundred years later or that the United States military has a long history of establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense and promoting the general welfare. Rather count it to their credit and honor that the job is nearly done.
Please note that those who "support" current U.S. military actions do not do our militry nor any of the soldiers any honor at all, it being no time for such things.

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The Virginia War Memorial (SW View) This rather is one of the proper ways to honor veterans. It is the Virginia War Memorial dedicated to those Virginians who died in World War II 1941-45, Korea 1950-53, Vietnam 1955-75 and the Persian Gulf 1991.

The photo at the right is the view through the memorial from the North. The east wall is of glass etched with the names of the those who died organized by the city from which they came. On the west wall the names are etched in stone and organized by the war in which they died. Those who died in the recent conflict might be added later. Photos by Arlon Staywell. The Virginia War Memorial (N View)

	This rather is one of the proper ways to honor veterans. It is the Virginia War Memorial dedicated to those Virginians who died in World War II 1941-45, Korea 1950-53, Vietnam 1955-75 and the Persian Gulf 1991.
The photo at the right is the view through the memorial from the North. The east wall is of glass etched with the names of the those who died organized by the city from which they came. On the west wall the names are etched in stone and organized by the war in which they died. Those who died in the recent conflict might be added later. Photos by Arlon Staywell.