The object of desire…
War is neither mysterious nor unavoidable. However it is often described as «irrational,» «unjustifiable,» «fateful,» a «basic instinct,» a «clash between individual and group morality,» «ethnic cleansing,» or «a solution to overpopulation.» But in reality, there are very significant and basic reasons for war. And they are always the same. Every time we read about wars, we realize we are not reading about yesterday’s conflict which has just arrived, but tomorrow’s which is on its way. There is always a «serious threat» or an «axis of evil» – there is always a supreme national goal to justify the deaths, the pain, and the horror. There is always a tangle of symbols, maxims, and ideologies – a regression to chaos, to an intended or unintended disorder. There is always discord when it comes to sharing out the loot, and a new balance of power after the clash – they settle their differences by committing, as a group, crimes that each frowns upon individually. It seems that only the crimes committed by others are actually crimes, whereas one’s own are described as a paramount national duty; they are lauded as heroism to be rewarded with memorials, honors and glory (even religion, which commands, «Thou shalt not kill,» eulogizes violence committed for national interests). There is always a blind passion for dominion and material acquisition, and an insatiable imperialism at work. Slaughter always veils itself in a cloak of divine inspiration.
