War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
by Chris Hedges

Rating(1-10): 8

Overall Summary

xxx

Chapter Summaries

Introduction

War is a drug. Qualities: excitement, exoticism, power, chances to rise
above our small stations in life, and a bizarre and fantastic universe
that has a grotesque and dark beauty. Many of us, restless and unfulfilled,
see no supreme worth in our lives. We want more out of life. And war, at least,
gives a sense that we can rise above our smallness and divisiveness.
War makes the world understandable, a black and white tableau of them and us.
Armed movements seek divine sanction and the messianic certitude of absolute truth.
The first people silenced are the people in our own group who question that
state's need and lust for war.

1: The Myth of War

We are good and they are bad. The government needs to create and sustain the
myth to keep the war going. It is all based on lies, on building up small
differences. The myth of was does not survive being in battle.

2: The Plague of Nationalism

Nationalism unites the nation against the world and makes you ignore anything
bad about your own country. He gives the example of Argentina where the junta
used a war over the Falkland Islands to divert attention from their own failings.

3: The Destruction of Culture

To prepare for war you must first silence your own culture.
A soldier who is able to see the humanity of the enemy makes a troubled and ineffective killer.
Caught in the myth of war we doubt our own perceptions, and feel guilty about any doubt.
He likes the Vietnam War memorial. I didn't like it.

4: The Seduction of Battle and the Perversion of War

The prospect of war is exciting. War stars with a collective euphoria.

5: The Hijacking and Recovery of Memory

xxx

6: The Cause

xxx

7: Eros and Thanatos

xxx