Why War?

I do not think that war is a part of the human condition. Humanity has found violence to be an effective way of dealing with conflict. In the times of ancient civilization there was glory and honor to be won and to be fought for. As Freud said “- in it’s present-day form war is no longer an opportunity for achieving the old ideals of heroism and that owing to the perfection of instruments of war destruction a future war might involve the extermination of one perhaps both of the antagonists.” Notice that Freud, a psychologist, stated that both combatants in an act of war are ‘Antagonists’.

Mankind as a member of the animal kingdom has an instinct located somewhere in their reptilian brain, that has programmed them to have an unpredictable need to assert their dominance on one another. This primal instinct and not war is a part of any human. I raise this question, when a human holds power over his peers for selfish reasons, is there an internal conflict taking place between the mind and the soul? If babies are born completely innocent capable of nothing more than learning and loving, that urge to take control over other human beings therefore must be an internal war with the purest most innocent part of your soul. This internal conflict results in the feeling when you know you are making a decision that could have a negative effect on you and the people around you.