General Discussion

Recursion

(56,582 posts)

22. Here's the perverse bit: every generation of technology has promised to make war quicker...

Fri Feb 8, 2013, 11:00 AM

Feb 2013

... by making it more deadly. When Maxim invented the machine gun, he thought it would bring an end to all war because war would become too horrible to sustain. They were always wrong.

That said, war has become steadily *less* deadly over time, though that risk has been spread over larger and larger groups. In the 17th century, casualty figures of 25%-30% were commonplace; by the 19th century that would be a disaster. A figure that high is unheard of in the 20th century. (Not to mention the fact that most soldiers died of dysentery before they ever saw a battle back then.)

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

43 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Is it the drones or the policy that is the problem? [View all] cleanhippie Feb 2013 OP

I find both disgusting. n/t MuseRider Feb 2013 #1

Why? cleanhippie Feb 2013 #2

Exactly. They could use surface-to-air missles and destroy the FSogol Feb 2013 #3

"Drone Derangement Syndrome" cleanhippie Feb 2013 #6

Sure. Many claim to be on the Democratic/Liberal side. FSogol Feb 2013 #8

You're probably right. cleanhippie Feb 2013 #11

Give me a break. Drone killings aren't about Dems or Pugs think Feb 2013 #38

Righteous rant. ronnie624 Feb 2013 #41

"I suspect that Drone Derangement Syndrome is more about bashing the administration to depress MuseRider Feb 2013 #23

Laughable. There are 100 anti-Obama threads at the moment. FSogol Feb 2013 #24

How about 100 anti Obama policy threads. MuseRider Feb 2013 #27

Thank you. Like Pugs will be better with drones. They'll be MUCH worse think Feb 2013 #39

please NoMoreWarNow Feb 2013 #30

So people who believe that using Drones to kill SomethingFishy Feb 2013 #43

Because it's too easy to kill. nt. polly7 Feb 2013 #4

Is the rifle a more disgusting weapon than an sword, then? nt el_bryanto Feb 2013 #5

Any weapon used to take life is equally disgusting. polly7 Feb 2013 #18

In many, if not most cases, a manned aircraft can achieve the same result. cleanhippie Feb 2013 #7

Killing, war all those great things we do so well. MuseRider Feb 2013 #15

"... it leads us to become more irrational in our use. " cleanhippie Feb 2013 #19

yes-- well put NoMoreWarNow Feb 2013 #34

The word 'drone' sounds sinister. randome Feb 2013 #9

really? NoMoreWarNow Feb 2013 #36

I'm sure many are honestly upset. I phrased my post inelegantly. randome Feb 2013 #37

ok, fair enough NoMoreWarNow Feb 2013 #42

Tell this to him: think Feb 2013 #40

This issue is like flypaper for our "sensible" posters. Romulox Feb 2013 #10

I guess I shouldn't be shocked by the kinds of things defended on DU.... Junkdrawer Feb 2013 #12

Some people know what buttons to push Recursion Feb 2013 #13

Well, there's probably no way to stop the advancement of the tech. longship Feb 2013 #14

Policy mostly. nt Bonobo Feb 2013 #16

Dangerous Precedents... KharmaTrain Feb 2013 #17

Civilians are ALWAYS in the crossfire. randome Feb 2013 #20

Great post, great points! cleanhippie Feb 2013 #21

Here's the perverse bit: every generation of technology has promised to make war quicker... Recursion Feb 2013 #22

Both for me. I find the policies more pressing but both are terribly dangerous TheKentuckian Feb 2013 #25

Spot on! cleanhippie Feb 2013 #26

Drones are cheap and overused to carry out a bad policy (extrajudicial execution of US Citizens) leveymg Feb 2013 #28

I tend to agree with you. cleanhippie Feb 2013 #29

Easy fix. All it takes is a new Executive Order by Obama to correct the EO that created this mess. leveymg Feb 2013 #31

It would seem to be that easy, wouldn't it? cleanhippie Feb 2013 #33

There are stakeholders who are wedded to the new status quo - they need to be overruled. leveymg Feb 2013 #35

Neither cbrer Feb 2013 #32