Why Do We Lust for War?

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/media/why-do-we-lust-war

“Every war is ironic because every war is worse than expected,” wrote Paul Fussell in The Great War and Modern Memory. “ No one old enough to remember Dick Cheney’s “we will be greeted as liberators” needs to be reminded of this truism, but as the odds for a region-wide war rise, and as the war on terror now enters its Syria phase, either we somehow forget the horrors of miscalculations past, or even more worryingly, we long for the perverse theater of war because it’s “the force that gives us meaning.”

For the past six years, and facing its biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, the political class has failed to come together on a single issue that threatens the well-being of everyday Americans. From extending unemployment benefits to funding veteran’s benefits; from raising the minimum wage to reforming immigration, Republicans have proactively blocked every Democratic initiative to deal earnestly with the nation’s ills.

Partisan gridlock has completely paralyzed Washington, with one notable exception: war. Numerous polls show that America is as politically polarized today as it was on the eve of the Civil War. It’s not only that Democrats and Republicans are often unable to find common ground; it’s also that the parties rarely attain unity within. While it takes the issue of abortion to unify the GOP, it takes the execution of war to bring about bipartisan consensus.

Congress was unable to find $6 billion to extend unemployment insurance for the millions of Americans who through no fault of their own find themselves on the precipice of economic disaster. Nor was it able to find the few billion necessary to keep all of the 21 million Americans dependent on food stamps sustained. But whenever the drums of war are banged, no dollar amount for military spending is too high.

[cali]

1. I don't think "lust" is the right word to describe why people support war after war

fear, that it's viewed through a simplistic prism (good v evil), seem much more likely explanations.

[liberal N proud]

2. Don't include me in that lust

[merrily]

3. We don't. We fall for propaganda. False framing by the headline writer.

We lust for peace, until they gin up support for one war or another.

Just look at the difference in support for air strikes as to Syria alone a year ago and now.

[BeyondGeography]

4. Who's "we"?

[raccoon]

5. I think the only ones who do are the ones who make money from it. And maybe

some in the military who for whatever reason--maybe think it will help their military career--lust for it.

[LWolf]

6. We don't, but

the sociopaths within, and enabled by, our society do.

[CaptainTruth]

7. I don't believe we (or in my case "they") lust for war.

I believe they lust for a world that's just the way they want it, one where everyone thinks & believes as they do, & they erroneously believe they can create that world using war as their primary tactic.

Then of course, those in the MIC just want to get rich.

[randome]

8. Why does it need to be lust or fear?

Josh Marshall compares what is happening in the Mideast to the European Reformation. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/you-say-you-want-a-reformation

Although his conclusion is that they aren't quite comparable, I think he makes the case in the process that they are.

The Reformation was a period of unparalleled intellectual leaps and also unimaginable cruelty.

Today we have the Arab Spring paired with ISIS. The Muslim world badly needs to come into the 21st century. Bombs are not the way to do that, of course, but this is only one aspect of historical change.
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