Will there always be war?
Leo R. Sandy
5-3-11
The answer to this question could be a yes or no depending upon one’s thinking. The answer would be yes if many people believed that war will always be with us because they would condone the preparation for it and then establish a confirmatory bias when war did occur. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy because if people believe something strongly enough, then it will happen because they will help bring it about. This is the fatalistic argument that makes war more likely to stay with us. This argument is also strongly reinforced by those who have a vested interest in the institution of war. The answer is no when many people believe that war can be abolished because new behavior would emerge from such thinking that would lead to the permanent absence of war or to its rarity because structures would have to be put into place that prevent war. War has been called a “racket” by former Marine general Smedley Butler, “hell” by General William T. Sherman and“a theft from those who hunger and are not fed” by former General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. If Nelson Mandela could be president of South Africa; if the Berlin Wall could be dismantled; if slavery and dueling could be made illegal, then surely war can be made extinct.
Those who maintain that war is inevitable because of human nature fail are not aware of the evidence that strongly counters that argument. Just because humans have the potential and capacity for violence and war is not the same thing as believing that such potential and capacity must be realized. Robert Hinde (WW II RAF pilot) and Joseph Rotblat (nuclear physicist) in their book, War no more, pointed out that “the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic, and a few hunter-gatherer societies living in tropical or sub-tropical regions elsewhere, never engage in inter-group violence.” Over 25 peaceful tribes have been identified by researchers including the Hadza Tribe of Tanzania, Amish, Buid, Tassaday, Pueblo, Batek, Birhor, Chewong, Fipa, G/wi, Hutterites, Ifaluk, Ju/’hoansi, Kadar, Ladakhi, Lepchas, Malapandaram, Mbuti, Nubians, Paliyans, Piaroa, Rural Thai, Semai, Tahitians, Tristan Islanders, Yanadi and Zapotec of La Paz.
“Most of the time these peaceful societies successfully promote harmony, gentleness, and kindness toward others as much as they devalue conflict, aggressiveness, and violence…most of the time they interact in a highly pro-social manner and they successfully avoid both violence within their own societies and warfare with other peoples…Many of them are masters at devaluing conflicts, minimizing and resolving them when they do occur, and preventing them from developing into violence. Many of these peaceful societies also devalue competition, self-focus, and other ego-centered social behaviors that they feel might lead to violence” (http://www.peacefulsocieties.org/).
Hinde and Rotblat (2003) also noted that “these societies tend to be egalitarian and to have an anti-violence value system…that combative sports are rare or non-existent; the norms governing day-to-day behavior are such that quarrelling, boasting, stinginess, anger and violence are stigmatized, while generosity and gentleness are encouraged.” Hinde and Rotblat (2003) also mention Switzerland that, although prepared for war, has a history of neutrality. Most of the Scandinavian countries were at one time the worst marauders in history but are now among the most peaceful and productive countries in the world. Perhaps they just grew up over time.
In an informal study done by professor John Horgan (2009), and validated by many of students over the years who have taken my War and Peace course, it was found that a majority of college students believe that war cannot be abolished and justify their beliefs based on the world’s long history of wars, fighting among Chimpanzees who share our DNA, the basic evil nature of people, the tendency for humans to be territorial, the human tendency for domination, testosterone in men and people’s high susceptibility to propaganda. In his refutation of such rationale, Horgan pointed out a study on ordinarily aggressive Rhesus monkeys that grew up to be kinder and gentler after having been raised by mild-mannered stumptail monkeys. He also mentioned the Pan paniscus species of chimpanzees called bonobos that do not engage in deadly warfare and have no male dominance but do engage in enormous amounts of sex. Other studies have shown that the level of aggressiveness normally associated with particular animal species can be significantly reduced when certain environmental conditions occur. In one study, a female tiger raised piglets as her own because she herself had been raised by a sow thereby believing that she was a pig.
Only a few decades ago there were 35 to 40 wars going on at any given time in the world but now that number has been reduced to 20 to 25. Possible reasons for this include the rise of democracies, longer life expectancy and globalization whereby the countries of the world are becoming more interdependent in the pursuit of commerce. One major way to end war as an institution was suggested by anthropologist and psychiatrist, Melvin Konner. He recommended female education as key to ending conflict. He felt that with more female education there would be a more stabilized population leading to lower birthrates that reduce the need for governmental and health services as well as limiting the population of unmarried and unemployed men who provide cannon fodder for war.
Some other ways that we can work toward establishing a culture of peace include:
- Teaching peace in our schools from early childhood through graduate school
- Developing ways to improve international cooperation aimed at advancing human development
- Rejecting violence as a method to solve international disputes
- Distributing, displaying, applying and enforcing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at all levels
- Removing glass ceilings and ensuring that women are represented equally in all settings
- Reforming political campaign financing so that electoral offices have democratic representation
- Celebrating cultural diversity and attending to the needs of vulnerable groups
- Supporting independent media and insisting that media serve the public good according to law
- Giving more attention to peacemaking and to conflict prevention and resolution at national and international levels
War can be abolished if we have the will to prepare for peace instead of for war. Some say that only strength will bring us peace. The truth is that only peace will bring us strength. As A.J. Muste once said, “there is no way to peace; peace is the way.”
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