"War is a racket. It always has been... a few profit - and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it...." - General Smedley Butler

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[–]magnora7[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

So then how does one take the profit out of war?

There are many profiable things about a war, the sale of weapons, the winning of spoils of war (which makes Blitzkrieg-like strategies possible), and the re-building of everything after the war, as well as repayment of debts associated with all those.

How can humanity get itself in a situation where all of those options no longer are profitable? Question of the millennium.

[–]i_cansmellthat 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

How can humanity get itself in a situation where all of those options no longer are profitable? Question of the millennium.

Maybe we need to start by redefining what it means to be "profitable."

We all know that giving a hand to someone who needs it, petting a dog, watching a sunset, the little things, these are the things that enrich us. We profit from them. Why have we given the power to define "profit" to those that possess all the material wealth?

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It is true that if no one were to participate in a war, it wouldn't happen... profit drives the entire system. Even now most people in the military do it to pay for college. And the generals have their salaries, and so do the people who call the shots at the top of the military-industrial complex.

I guess in some ways the only real way to address it is like you said, to pet a dog and do little things to help others. We have to each have a revolution inside of us, to act better, to make the world better. But what will trigger that on a mass scale? And how can we help that process along?

[–]i_cansmellthat 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Kindness breeds kindness (a not-for-profit kindness though). Maybe small acts can snowball, I am really hopeful that this is true. Mix in a dose of knowledge and perspective.....but how?

Our current social environment is so divided and hateful. The core truth of how governments attain and keep power is so occluded with misinformation, and now it seems they have found a way to control the people by co-opting one's very identity (conservative, liberal, immigrant, etc). All this contributes to the public being so busy picking a side, that we don't realize we are the pawns in the business of war. It's crazy, but I don't think everyone realizes we are actively engaged in the business of war, at this very moment. In the US, if you pay taxes you are contributing to the business of war. Maybe people need to ponder on that.

In the movie "They Live" the protagonist finds a box of sunglasses that, when worn, show things as they really are. (It's a campy movie, but the message is solid) We need to find the box of sunglasses. I don't know, maybe none of us are looking for it. But I think if we found the box, and we could just be kind to one another, it would be a start.