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Very interesting article.
America's fondness and glorification of war is an obvious difference to us people over here in Germany. We are very skeptical of war and generally don't trust arguments in favor of war. Americans, on the other side, did not have war on their ground since the Civil War --
Not sure which is better. Both sides seem a bit neurotic to me.
Up until WWII, Americans didn't favor war either until Japan attacked. Who knows if we would have eventually gone to war then if it hadn't been for Pearl Harbor?
Suggested reading, if you're interested in the issue of war from one psychology perspective: "A Terrible Love of War" by James Hillman. If you have any interest in psychology (Jungian in specific) you may enjoy it.
Not so
The US instigated war vs the Spanish, the Phillipenes, invaded more then a few Central American countrie and Carib islands before WW2.
Don't forget Mexico.
Remember the Alamo! :mrgreen:
(Actually, I chiefly remember that they all died, and that the Alamo is a good argument of the superiority of the mobile defense concept vs fixed defenses.)
Not so
The US instigated war vs the Spanish, the Phillipenes, invaded more then a few Central American countrie and Carib islands before WW2.
That's the Texas Revolution. I was speaking of our invasion into Mexico in 1846 and the consequent initiation of hostilities which resulted in our acquisition of California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona.
In that sense you have a good point. . . exposure and first hand knowledge is what we lack.
Riots, protests, gang violence = these things are the only first hand knowledge of the overall nature of violence and social unrest that many Americans have *unless* they are in the military and deploy to a warzone (or immigrate here from a warzone). Even then - quite a few people will never *be* in a riot, will never *witness* a protest and will never participate or be a victim of gang activity. Our country is so vast it's very easy to go your entire life completely avoiding these situations.
A real, full scale and all encompassing war has not been waged on our soil. That physical separation removes us from "the fight" and distances people from the reality of it. . . this actually leads *many* people to support our war in the Middle East and so on with the phrase "as long as it's not in *my* back yard" (meaning - as long as it's not on our soil they'll be ok with it).
However, by living in Germany and other nations in Europe you know and see first hand accounts - constantly - of WWII, WWI and so on. . . knowing full well the long lasting and horrific aftermath. How it effects your economy, your social-coagulation, culture and so forth. It's all *very* real and *very* home. . . you don't need to see it in a movie to witness what happens because of war - you know.
Now - I find it interesting the # of people on this forum who are *from* Germany. Bennyhill posted frequently for a while and he made me interested *in* German politics - so I read some news papers and even read your Basic Law. Anti-war and violence is a fundamental component of your Basic Law on which many other laws are founded - that's not saying that Germans are without crime, of course - but it's a solid government-belief that violence and warfare is detestable and should be avoided at all costs. Whenever something is ingrained in the core of the government's ways - it becomes ingrained in the core of people's beliefs on how everyone should live.
Now - how do we compare to the rest of the world on this? The leading 10 countries? The leading 50? . . . when comparing Germany to the US its' easy to note the differences but, of course, we're not the only two countries in the world.
Why do Americans love to reflexively criticize wars?
Actually, we have had three major wars fought on our soil, the revolutionary war, the war of 1812, and the civil war.
PTSD, the further costs of these wars. HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
Most of the posts on here are too cynical and it's evident that there isn't a love for war. If anything there is a consistent cynicism of war and constant accusation of a majority that loves war. Here's a better question. Why do Americans love to reflexively criticize wars?
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