I view war as an integral part of society. Just the threat of war makes golbal economy better and, in some cases, even stimulate the economy of countries. Is war just a needless bloodshed, or is it an overall good thing for the world?
It's not war itself or the practice of it, it is why we're in a war. War helps recycle our economy (Post WWII Boom, WWI boom, Cold War Arms sales) It helps build our infrastructure... (Pres. Ike and the Interstate) We've already covered inventions. And I like the post above. Definitely keeps us united, it brings nationalism to people when they need it. It can go sour if a country is insane, leading to jingoism such as the case of WWII countries, but not because they had a military but because it was so active...
These benefits, though, are not derived from our aggressiveness and selfish desire to kill, they are, in fact, based on our want of defense. Most of these things came out at times of 'fear' or 'confusion'. Cold war technology that powers the world today wasn't because we were killing people -- we were afraid of dying. It's not a bad thing when you're putting a shield up. You can't bring the Nuclear Bomb into this, science is science and it will grow in ways bad and good. Nuclear energy is the stuff if you don't give it to morons.
Lastly, if War is put out for offensive reasons -- then it's pointless. America's dollars are in the hands of the Chinese because we have burnt our own in Iraq. It's not like the first Gulf war where we came out with billions in oil contracts from OPEC. This is some fail honor strife... kind of like Vietnam I suppose? Whatever the case, it isn't helping. It's okay in my opinion, but not because I support a countries ability to be evil and hurt others, it's just that I support the idea of assuming those around you are stupid and can make mistakes. It's just good precaution.
I believe some people here have misunderstood the original question.
Is war just a needless bloodshed, or is it an overall good thing for the world?
The question here isn't whether it is ethical or justified, the question is if the benefits would outweigh the costs.
The pros are pretty much what Armed_Blade mentioned, and the inventions that came from military research may very well have save the lives of thousands, maybe even millions of people.
The cons would of course be the deaths, destruction and all the money "wasted" on weapons, tanks, explosives, the rebuilding of bombed buildings, etc.
So basically, this is NOT about whether war is wrong or unethical, but if it benefits mankind.
I don't think that war is good but the threat of war from things like the UN is good. If people know the UN will fight them they won't make it necessary. Unless they are stupid like Gaddafi. But it is really bad for the economy since it costs loads of money for things like missiles and bombs. And don't quote anything about the great depression at me.
Sorry for not posting earlier, but I couldn't so...
Loloynage: I know that you don't like war, that much is apparent just by your stance in this thread, but you have to admit, that even though the inventions would most likely come out regardless of Military intervention, the idea and threat of war drives an economy forward, not back. Do you have any idea on the numbers that dissappear into the black budget every year? Or how many Americans are imployed to make weapons of war? The numbers are astounding. Both in the man power and the monies given to it.
Also, war is great for keeping down the population of the world. Think about all the people that aren't able to reproduce, because their brain matter was blown out the back of their skull. Those numbers again, are astounding.
While war may cost a lot to fund, when it acctually happens, it still is the reason that more people don't loose jobs when they get back home, or during the war. Military families are supported, and many bussinesses thrive because of the demands of war on their products.
War is fought more for prosperity than the underlying issues int he countries we attack. Sad but true...
War has ALWAYS been about prosperity, among our own species and our close relatives. War is waged for land, power, resources, and other such things. That is all it has ever been, however in our modern society we like to imagine ourselves so far removed from our base animal instincts that we dress it up in political colors and call it patriotism and other such BS things.
Also, war is great for keeping down the population of the world. Think about all the people that aren't able to reproduce, because their brain matter was blown out the back of their skull. Those numbers again, are astounding.
There are far better ways to do this than war although it's logical. We have a housing shortage and high unemployment. The logical thing to do when you have a surplus of an item and nowhere to store it is to get rid of it. But no, thanks to sentimental ideas like, not wanting to kill old mum, or being "fond" of our children we don't do this.
This was said by Jimmy Carr but I can't fin the exact quote so I just put what I remembered.
While war may cost a lot to fund, when it acctually happens, it still is the reason that more people don't loose jobs when they get back home, or during the war. Military families are supported, and many bussinesses thrive because of the demands of war on their products.
When the survivors got back from the World Wars they were unemployed because the government had no use for them. No pension, no military jobs just left to live on the streets. And the fund war there needs to be loads of taxes and countries get a lot poorer afterwards
