[Critique Group 1] pieces due tomrrow, and Leonard's submission

[tuchyner5 at aol.com]

Hi group 1,

Tomorrow submissions ae due. Below is mine.

Leonard


Future of War


 


How many wars have there been to end all wars?  The idea of ending all wars is, by power ofhindsight, ambitious and naïve. To ask a less cosmic question, “How many warshave been fought to end specific issues between two factions?” I would wager thatthere have been uncountable numbers. How often have the goals of these morelimited conflicts been solved for all times? I think that result would be asrare as New Year resolutions being kept. Of course, if all the partisans onboth sides were annihilated, the issue would be solved – at least for thosepartisans. When the last of the Mohicans was killed in battle, there was nomore warring between them and their enemies.


 


In my mind, it is doubtful that wars will ever become absolute.The question of how we end wars is the wrong question. The more useful questionis, “How can we change the way in which wars are fought?”


 


Actually, humans have already developed ways of modifyingwarfare. Some of these approaches are less deadly. Some of them are potentiallymore lethal and cruel. For example, politics is one way that humans have toconduct warfare in a potentially non-lethal way.  Other animals also have their methods tosettle their differences without resorting to killing or being killed. One of themcan bow out, by yielding to their foe’s insistence. 


 


For example, my two dogs, who occasionally lie down on acouch together in peace and tranquility will, at other times, snarl at each otherand make horrible-sounding threats to tear each others’ throats out. People whoare not accustomed to this kind of behavior between man’s best friends areterrified, frightened that they are about to witness a fight to the death.Actually, that is the point – to convince the other that he or she is willingto fight to the death for whatever.  Bothdogs are practicing brinkmanship. If they can convince their foe that they willtear out his or her throat if they do not back down, both are better off forit. It is rare that socialized dogs will accelerate to bloodshed. They know howto communicate. However, there are occasions when it does turn into a bloodbath.


 


I think a parallel strategy that Homo sapiens use is “I’llblow you to kingdom come with my nuclear weapons. So back off, buddy.” Whatwould happen if a madman got a hold of the button? It is interesting that mydogs get into these squabbles exactly for the same reasons that humans do.  Most of the time, they are fighting forterritory. Each dog has their own food bowl and lay claim to the immediateterritory around it.  But like humans,they will steal food if they think they can get away with it. In theseconfrontations, the offended dog always wins. The offending dog knows that.  Territorialprerogative gives the abiding dog the upper hand. It is almost impossible tovanquish the resident animal if that animal holds its ground. The intruderbacks down, albeit not without protest.


 


In the eleven years I’ve lived with these two dogs, I’ve neverseen bloodshed between them. On the other hand, I have no doubt that if anotherdog invaded their territory and did not back down, blood would flow. I’ve seenit.  However, the kind of controlledwarfare I’ve described will go on to their dying days 


 


An important fact to realize is that most of us are at warwith ourselves.  For example, I love ice cream.But the sugar in ice ream is bad for my health. So what part of me is going towin? One thing I’m convinced of is that neither side is going to win all thetime.  This quarrel will go on probablyto my dying day. My dying day will come a lot sooner if gluttony overrules selfdiscipline most of the time. Like any addict, my way toward self realization isto realize that this is one of my battlefields. I must not fall into the deephole of denial. Even if my dentist pulls all of my sweet teeth, there willalways be another battleground. I cannot end my inner wars, I can only managethem.


 


If this is true of our inner natures, then why would webelieve it is different in our associations with others? We shouldn’t. This istrue at all levels. It is there between husband and wife, football teams,competing businesses, cities, states, nations, and political parties. 


 


One of the factors on my side in fighting my inner war withice cream is that I know, really know, that my life will be miserable andshortened if I cannot fight this war that satisfies each side to a reasonabledegree. It is always going to be a push/pull situation. Sometimes I’ll gain toomuch weight. Sometimes I’ll be in fighting trim.  I must accept the way things are, and the waythey are is that I cannot expect to win if I hope to survive with a reasonablygood life. 


 


It has been said, “It is not who wins or loses, but the waythe game is played.” So forget about ending conflict. Forget about eithergetting other nations to submit to our will -- or else. That never works.Forget about picking up our marbles and going home when we fail to get ourgoals met. We can’t disengage from certain wars. We can only hope to limit thedamage done in these conflicts. 


 


We don’t have any less war since World War One than we didbefore the war. If we disregard small fires, some of them will become majorfires that we cannot control, and do far more damage than all the little firesput together.  We can’t win against fire;we might be able to contain it, but not completely and forever.


 


Well, got to go now. I’m having a war with some invadingmice. I tried to live in peace with them, but they started tearing out thestove insulation. Who knows what they’re doing with the insulated wires. So I’mfighting back. I might vanquish them in this skirmish, but their kind willreturn by next year’s winter. In fact, I believe there will always be some thatstick around and just be quieter and less destructive. That would be okay withme. I don’t like killing them.
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