Tang is a second-year political science
student.
By Eric Tang
As we gradually settle into a state somewhat resembling pre-Sept.
11 normalcy, I think it is time for a healthy bit of personal
reflection.
Specifically, I think it is time we all reflect and admit the
blasphemous little secret we’ve been trying to hide: We miss
the war. Yeah, I know it’s still going on but it really just
isn’t the same as it was before. Life for the first few weeks
after Sept. 11 was intense and exciting even for people thousands
of miles from any real action.
We felt that surge of patriotism as we saw our flag and proudly
sang along with the triumphant anthems blasting from our radio. As
we watched and supported our troops in Afghanistan, we all partook
in our nation’s triumph over evil. We all had the chance to
feel a bit like heroes ““ a rare and welcomed treat for those
of us whose lives do not frequently offer such exciting benefits.
In the early stages of the war, our lives even seemed to possess a
greater meaning as we recognized our arrival to the defining period
of our generation.
The truth is we like war.
In fact, we enjoy violence in general. We revel in the sadistic
pleasure in watching people be mangled, stabbed, shot, kicked,
decapitated and blown up. Consider the popularity of blood-spewing
video games or the bone-crunching action of hockey, boxing,
wrestling and football. Consider the murderous pleasure a hunter
derives from shooting a deer. Or think of all the Hollywood movies
where the hero levels the enemy soldiers with his assault rifle.
Imagine how intolerably dull our lives would be without the
entertaining spectacles of violence.
The big problem is that what is happening in Afghanistan ““
and is now extending into other countries such as the Philippines
““ is not a video game or a movie where our bloodlust can be
satiated without any serious harm inflicted.
The approximately three-thousand-Americans who died on Sept. 11
are not extras in a movie. The four to five thousand innocent
Afghan civilians who have died so far from the U.S. attacks are not
animated pixels on a computer screen. There is no reset button in
this war. These are people whose lives have been lost forever,
babies left orphaned, and dreams never realized. These are smiles,
hugs, laughs and kisses stolen from a world where love is sometimes
woefully scarce.
Yet here we find the biting hypocrisy in our perception of
war.
On the one hand, when confronted with the harsh realities of
war, people piously declare that war is a deplorable occurrence
exhibiting the worst elements of human nature, while conversely, we
see war glorified everywhere we turn ““ in songs, on
television, on T-shirts, in video games, on the silver screen and
in our history books. War is fun. War is exciting. War sells.
For goodness sake, let’s wake up!
This isn’t a soft drink we’re talking about. War has
brought this world unimaginable pain and suffering, misery and
hopelessness, hate and horror. The tears and blood of war have
tainted the entire history of humanity and now, with the
apocalyptic capacities of nuclear warheads in our possession, no
one is safe from the deadly tentacles of war. In light of the
frighteningly real possibility of global destruction, never has
there been a more urgent time for humankind to either eliminate war
or suicidally wait for it to eliminate us.
I know I am not alone in wishing for a peaceful world. The
problem is that wishing won’t do us much good. If we
sincerely desire to usher in a brave new era of peace, we must look
at ourselves critically and acknowledge our affinity to violence.
We must admit that there are certain elements of war which we truly
enjoy. Most importantly, we must cease to glorify war to such
heights that the true spectacles of war are overshadowed by visions
of star-spangled banners whipping in the wind or fireworks
exploding in the night sky.
We must be firm in our recognition that the true spirit of war
cannot be heard in uplifting anthems of glory and pride but in the
howling anguish of a maimed soldier, and in the desperate cries of
an orphaned child.
Only when the hideous beast of war is unmasked will we find the
indomitable determination to forever banish it from our world.