War Transforms Humans Into Change

I learned early on that war forms its own culture. The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug, one I ingested for many years. It is peddled by mythmakers- historians, war correspondents, filmmakers, novelists, and the state- all of whom endow it with qualities it often does possess: excitement, exoticism, power, chances to rise above our small stations in life, and a bizarre and fantastic universe that has a grotesque and dark beauty. ~ Chris Hedges

The enduring attraction of war is this: Even with its destruction and carnage it can give us what we long for in life. It can give us purpose, meaning, a reason for living. ~ Chris Hedges

War forces us to embrace contradictions reflective of the very nature of our world. In victorious nations, it may plant arrogance and erase the bounds of caution and restraint in the practice of power; in those who are vanquished, bitterness, the resolve for revenge passing down the generations. And yet, war does more, it not only scars us, but also reduces us to our most, primal selves. When the wars subside, we emerge changed; some stronger, some broken, but always more resilient and cautious.

Ukraine conflict, tensions in the South China Sea and the Korean peninsula, and the instability in the Middle East for oil and gas. In each of them, we see the same dynamics, leaders are often mistaken for creators of events, but in fact, they are merely forecasters. Like weather forecasters, who predict storms but do not create them, these leaders are credited with shaping history when, in fact, they are just navigating it. This is where the greatest tool of such individuals such as Assad or Zelenskyy or Putin are just illusion of mastery that convinces us that they hold the reins of destiny when they are actually just reacting to forces beyond their control. It is in this belief in their control that their power is consolidated, just like a magician mesmerizing with sleight of hand.

And yet, corruption festers even in the most seemingly modern of our institutions, those, if anything, most under the glare of global UN scrutiny. Think of the unparalleled clout of tech conglomerates, or of the United Nations and the corrosion of international trust. When the president of USA tells the world, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Greenland may become part of USA by economic force, such ultranationalism transparency falters, decay grows, silent as a fungus that spreads in the dark. And those in power are not immune. Desperation often forces leaders to seek out voices of integrity, not to emulate them but to cloak themselves in borrowed morality. These leaders, like wolves cloaked in sheep's wool, use the guise of morality to mask their predatory ambitions.

Despite our advancements, the strange allure of war persists.

Its brutality stirs something deep within us that peace cannot replicate.

Consider this against the context of the recent surge in nationalist fervor and populist causes based on conflict and division of a multipolar world. A world with no war is just some kind of ideal fantasy. The things that stir people are ambition, hate, and a hunger to dominate, and without war, they will stagnate.

War transforms humans into change. War teaches stamina, precision, and grudging respect for loss. We are renewed stronger afterward, our cultures cleansed by the chaos and damage and trauma.

In other words, as mankind evolves further, it will emerge that culture in itself needs, rather paradoxically, instances of barbarism. Without the upheaval of great conflict, we risk growing stagnant and jealous - full of envy. It is in such regressions of violence that we recapture the strength to build once again, not only in assurance of our continuity as humans but the spirit of barbarism and civilization.