Friday, February 20, 2004

Chris Hedges on the Psychology of War

One of the most challenging and disturbing books I've read in a long time is Chris Hedges' War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002). Hedges is an experienced war correspondent. Here's an example of what I mean about his book:

War makes the world understandable, a black and white tableau of them and us. It suspends thought, especially self-critical thought. All bow before the supreme effort. We are one. Most of us willingly accept war as long as we can fold it into a belief system that paints the ensuing suffering as necessary for a higher good, for human beings seek not only happpiness but also meaning. And tragically war is sometimes the most powerful way in human society to achieve meaning.

But war is a god, as the ancient Greeks and Romans knew, and its worship demands human sacrifice. We urge young men to war, making the slaughter they are asked to carry out a rite of passage. And this rite has changed little over the centuries, centuries in which there has almost continuously been a war raging somewhere on the planet. The historian Will Durant calculated that there have only been twenty-nine years in all of human history during which a war was not underway somewhere. We call on the warrior to exemplify the qualities necessary to prosecute war - courage, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. The soldier, neglected and even shunned during peacetime, is suddenly held up as the exemplar of our highest ideals, the savior of the state. The soldier is often whom we want to become, although secretly many of us, including most soldiers, know that we can never match the ideal held out before us. And we all become like Nestor in The Iliad, reciting the litany of fallen heroes that went before to spur on a new generation. That the myths are lies, that those who went before us were no more able to match the ideal than we are, is carefully hidden from public view. The tension between those who know combat, and thus know the public lie, and those who propagate the myth, usually ends with the mythmakers working to silence the witnesses of war.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very perceptive passage!

Anonymous said...

yesterday, before Mystic River we saw previews for two forthcoming epic films. one is called "Troy" and it's about, yes, exactly the mythic battle of the Iliad. starring, however, Brad Pitt. not MY idea of mythic hero. anyway, the other is "The Alamo," another mythic-battle story. starring Billy Bob as D. Crockett. the previews were huge full-screen dramatic battle presentations, guaranteed to get the blood pounding. do we think this is coincidence, at this time in U.S. history?

Anonymous said...

Well, Hollywood producers certainly pay attention to the news! I tend to think a story about the Trojan War is timely any time, but we'll have to see what they do with it. The one that seems very current-events-influenced to me is "Hidalgo." To judge from the previews, it's about an American cowboy who manages to beat about 10,000 Arabs in horse-race in the desert. - Bruce

Anonymous said...

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