{"id":639,"date":"2014-12-07T23:29:50","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T04:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joshuastairhime.com\/?p=639"},"modified":"2018-12-04T22:21:22","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T03:21:22","slug":"world-needs-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.joshuastairhime.com\/index.php\/world-needs-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the World Needs War (DOP #7 2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before we get started, if you glance to your right, you will notice the newly available option to subscribe to my posts. \u00a0If you don’t mind getting daily emails of my posts for the next 18 days (and then less frequent posts after that) it would be awesome if you signed up! \u00a0I’d also like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who is reading this so far, I greatly appreciate the time you spend reading and sharing my thoughts!<\/i><\/p>\n

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When the United States was attacked 71 years ago on December 7th<\/sup>, the United States was united by the words of then President; Franklin Roosevelt.\u00a0 His speech, which began with \u201cYesterday, December 7th<\/sup>, 1941\u2026A date which will live in infamy.\u201d had the unenviable task of uniting a nation that at the very least was divided along party lines.\u00a0 FDR knew that the only hope to prevail in the coming war, was to present a united front to the Japanese.\u00a0 His speech was very effective, and the recruiting posts were open 24 hours a day after his speech as they attempted to sign up all of the volunteers who were willing to fight on behalf of the United States.\u00a0 \u00a0The attack acted as a catalyst, and without it, the United States may have never entered World War II.<\/p>\n

When the next major surprise attack found the United States in September of 2001, it is said that imagery of Pearl Harbor was used by the government to help ensure a united response to the Presidents newly announced war on terror.\u00a0\u00a0 Subtle (and perhaps not so subtle) references to the past, were used to support the idea of the inevitable victory of the United States.\u00a0 In the wake of the attacks, the American people flocked the blood banks in droves, resulting in almost 500,000 pints of blood being donated.\u00a0\u00a0 Pentagon statistics suggest an 8% rise in military recruiting inquires in the 4 months following the events of that day.<\/p>\n

We have always used tragic events to rally behind as a country.\u00a0 Cries of \u201cRemember the Alamo\u201d and \u201cRemember the Maine\u201d predate the events at Pearl Harbor, and were used to unite people who would be called upon to defend the union.\u00a0 To a lesser extent tragedies like the Challenger explosion have also drawn the country together, but without an enemy to unite against, tragedies seem to have less shelf life than attacks on our nation.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The U.S.S. Maine, a rallying point in the Spanish American war.<\/p><\/div>\n

The common denominator for all of these terrible events is a renewed sense of national unity.\u00a0 I remember the assembly following the acts of 9\/11 as a moment of togetherness at our school, which was not a normal feeling.\u00a0\u00a0 The national anthem suddenly had meaning again, and the pledge of allegiance was taken very seriously, as we realized that many of our upper classman would probably be going to fight in the war we all knew must be coming. \u00a0I don\u2019t remember how many days it was before school got back to normal, but we all knew that something had changed on that day.<\/p>\n

One of my friends dressed up as Rosie the Riveter for Halloween this year, and when I saw her tastefully executed costume, I remembered reading of the hardships the people of the 40\u2019s lived through to support the war effort.\u00a0 Fuel was rationed, women were suddenly thrust into manufacturing jobs, metal was recycled to help the war effort, and even chocolate and sugar were rationed.\u00a0 The American people endured great hardship to support their troops overseas.\u00a0 They were unified in a desire to defeat a common enemy.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An adorable little fella with a ration card.<\/p><\/div>\n

As we look at the ineffectiveness of our current congress, I wonder what terrible event will be used to draw us together again.\u00a0 As we are in the most racially charged time I recall in my short 30 years, will tragedy have to strike before we begin effective discussion of solving the problems?<\/p>\n

I submit for your consideration, that the world does not need war to redraw borders or eliminate the dangers of a despotic leader (of whom there seem to be a few hanging around).\u00a0 \u00a0I personally think that we have had plenty of time as thinking humans to figure out how diplomacy works.\u00a0 Imagine a world where those guilty of war crimes are promptly punished, and those who take advantage of their own people are removed from power.\u00a0 I also submit that until we learn to live in unity, the cycle of war will continue.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t an innate need for violence and bloodshed that draws our world towards war, but a need to be joined with our fellow man in a common cause, fighting to achieve a common goal.\u00a0 The romanticism that surrounds war seldom focuses on the death and bloodshed found in battle, but rather on the remarkable lengths some men (and women) go to in order to protect or rescue their fellow man.\u00a0 The comradery portrayed in TV epics like Band of Brothers is something we lack in our age of computers and Facebook, and something we thirst for dearly.\u00a0 The bonds of shared hardship are strong indeed.<\/p>\n

My own brother who has spent two combat tours in Afghanistan has expressed these views, that life away from his unit seems to lack a certain vitality that is found in the bond of brotherhood.\u00a0 Many of the veterans who have returned from these recent conflicts have a deep sense of loss and mourning.\u00a0 Much of this mourning is for the dead, the friends they have lost, but some of this mourning is in remembrance of a fraternal bond that has been severed.\u00a0 I suspect my other brother, an Iraq veteran, has experienced these feelings as well.<\/p>\n

The Bible tells us of 3 men who broke through enemy lines in the dead of night, not to defeat the enemy, but to retrieve a drink of water for their king, who had expressed a nostalgic longing for water from the well outside of his childhood home. \u00a0When the men returned, David, their king, poured the water out on the ground as a demonstration to the 3 men that their lives were far more valuable than any desire of his for water.\u00a0\u00a0 We still tell that story today.<\/p>\n

We seek unity with those around us, sometimes at the cost of the lives of other men, who may pray or speak differently, but who, were the full truth known, are often not that different from ourselves.\u00a0 It is this that drives us to war.<\/p>\n

Some might argue that we pursue war in the interest of justice.\u00a0 They argue many wars are waged to eliminate leaders who do wrong.\u00a0 Ask the Syrians if that is the case.\u00a0 I would remind you that World War II had already been underway for more than 2 years when the United States entered it.\u00a0 Perhaps you could ask those who fought in the Great War, the war they had hoped would end all wars (World War I) why the United States was absent until almost 3 years after the war had begun.\u00a0 They would likely point you to the sinking of the Lusitania, a British ship full of American passengers.<\/p>\n

If we could learn to unite around common goals, perhaps our nation can avoid the next war.\u00a0 If we can not avoid it, perhaps we will enter for the right reasons.\u00a0 Imagine a world focused on finding ways to stretch our resources, so that everyone has a chance at a decent life, instead of focused on protecting what is ours, and attempting to secure more for ourselves.\u00a0 What if we decided to pursue space colonization as a united world, to put in place resources for the future growth of our species?\u00a0 If just the United States made a united decision to end the world water crisis, the money could be raised by the end of this little project of mine.<\/p>\n

As our young nation becomes increasingly divided, the desire for unity, fraternity, comradery increases.\u00a0 What will be the next catalyst?<\/p>\n

\"Thanks<\/a>

Thanks to ANOTHER anonymous donation last night, we have reached $350 towards our $5000 goal! You guys seriously ROCK!<\/p><\/div>\n

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25 days of peace (An Introduction)<\/a><\/p>\n

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