This is just a brief observation on my part — there have probably already been studies on this, and if not, there should be. War imagery in our society is especially prevalent; people desire to identify themselves as part of a harsh, violent struggle, either figuratively or literally.
Some salient examples: the perceived “War on Christmas”, the “War on Drugs”, the “War on Poverty”, the “Culture War” (along with Bill O’Reilly’s book Culture Warrior), the “War on Terror”, the popular hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers”, and so on and so forth. There are probably plenty more examples than that. People are proud to be a part of a fight, a struggle, and beyond that, a good old-fashioned war. It’s as if wanting to start a war over something is the highest mark of seriousness an issue can achieve in this country.
It’s easy to associate this phenomenon solely with conservatives, but I think that simplifies the issue — the trait seems to be an overall American trait. Take the “War on Poverty” for instance. It’s as if liberals have to say “look, our cause is as important as yours … important enough to be a war, even!” as if it were a good thing.
I wish peace were more of a virtue. I mean, even proposed programs at ending poverty are identified as part of a “war” effort. How sad.
December 25, 2007 at 1:34 am
Isn’t that the animal nature coming out in humans? No matter what people really say, we’re still animals: we fight, we protect our territories (or take over others if we’re mad), we instinctively find mates that would be make good parents, and sometimes, we are idiots.
December 25, 2007 at 1:36 am
If you look at other primates, they certainly war as well. However, I wish we could grow beyond that and hold up peace as a virtue instead of war. I think we’re, to a large extent, a product of our society and culture. Why not have a society and culture that stamps important causes as causes of peace rather than a war on something? Is it really the case that if something matters a lot, we should be “deploying the forces”?
December 25, 2007 at 1:46 am
That’s so true. Peace is never an issue in politics. It’s always “war.” Maybe we should look towards the northern countries where they emphasize overall society well being. They solve basic societal issues: provide food, healthcare, education, and shelter and maybe drugs, war, terrorism would not be problems.