a pessimist's view on war and alexander the great: rachael gilbert

war is something that is spoken about but is rarely discussed. sure, we learn about the war of 1812 in history class and you hear war stories that have changed with time and age from your grandfather every christmas, but rarely do you hear someone debate over the necessity of war.

we fight over stupid things. objects or people or words written down thousands of years ago. and in most instances i cannot find reason in this violence. why do groups fight over religious texts that, though different, both command their followers to be loving and forgiving? is the loss of thousands of lives worth a few miles of desert? in these instances, war seems unnecessary. but we live in an imperfect world. one in which evil and hate and prejudice exist. and in that world, war is a given variable. it happens. groups do terrible things in the name of their country or their god or their leader and then we feel called to commit even more heinous crimes in the name of justice.

i find it exhausting to theorize on the possibility of world peace. it seems to me an unattainable dream, something we hope for but can never quite reach. perhaps reality and a naturally pessimistic personality has jaded me towards this idea. but to me the possibility of world peace is not yet attainable. i tend to view war as a symptom to something greater. people don’t just wake up one morning, eat breakfast and say:

“hey, that bagel and cream cheese was really awesome. maybe i’ll have some coffee later and then conquer all of the known world.”*

we go to war over a multitude of things: hate, prejudice, lack of fundamental resources, fear, etc.

and it is those problems that need solved before we can hope for world peace. talking about some "bright new age" in which war no longer exists is fun to fantasize about but it will never happen until we repair the fundamental fractures found in our society.

*unless you are quite literally alexander the great