Author : Lindsey Williams
Moral Right No War Barrier
War - Part 2 of 4
December 27, 1967Rejection of war on moral grounds will remain a pipe dream as long as we must — or feel we must -- rely on group force to improve our standard of living or to preserve the one we are enjoying already.Moral right is invoked, logically, whether we attack or defend. It is moral to get additional resources for your needy group, and it is moral to defend your group against injury. Religious leaders on both sides of a war frequently pray with equal sincerity to the same God for victory.The species of man is still in the formative stage. Stone Age hunting cultures flourish within a few hours plane flight of our most advanced cities.Developing nations, as in the past, seek the comforts and conveniences of civilization before achieving the means of satisfying new desires.The races of man progress at varying rates. Yet, in recent years there has been a tremendous sharing of ideas through the influence of a general intermingling of races. War has contributed greatly to the spread of new, cultural traits --- some good, some bad.Until man reaches a balance with Nature, as all other creatures eventually do, conflict between the haves and the have-nots likely will continue.Attempts to reduce the hardship of progress by taking from "inferior" and weak neighbors is all too compelling.Inasmuch as war affects our lives so drastically, it would seem that the United States, the United Nations, or some well-endowed foundation would undertake a long-range program of research and popular education about war.Many organizations deal with parts of the subject; journalists, scientists and church men harp about it; and draft-age youth march up the street and back again in futile protest.However, an effective alternative to war is yet to be discovered.It is interesting to speculate about the potential of peace through large scale, coordinated projects of study, communication and action.Until we put the same effort into peace as we do into war we can glean only scraps of significant information and opinions to help us control our destiny.The American Anthropological Association recently made an important contribution to the understanding of war and peace with a symposium in Washington, D.C. titled "War: The Anthropology of Armed Conflict and Aggression." Excerpts are published in the December issue of "Natural History," the magazine of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City.Professor Frank B. Livingstone, of the University of Michigan, addressed himself to "The Effects of Warfare on the Biology of the Human Species." He presented statistics to refute two popular myths about war --- that war weakens the human race by killing off the best potential fathers, and that war is Nature's way of keeping man in balance with his food supply."The last two World Wars have been responsible for enormous numbers of deaths, but it is nevertheless questionable whether they have had any permanent demographic significance," he said."In the case of Russia during World War I and the subsequent revolution, the deficit: between expected population and the actual figures was about five million during the height of the fighting and famine; but the population had recovered by 1927."Prof. Livingstone pointed out that in World War II, approximately 9 per cent of the U.S.S.R.'s and 5 per cent of Germany's population were killed, while for England and France it was only 1 per cent, and for the United States an infinitesimal 0.2 percent."When we consider that these slaughters occur about once a generation," said Livingstone. "the conclusion seems inescapable that they have no significant effect on the population growth or size and do not act as forces controlling the population."Furthermore, Wright's (1965) figures show that the twentieth century has been the most lethal both in terms of numbers and percentages; so that during the Christian Era warfare has not been a major force controlling the size of human populations."Even today the number of young men killed in automobile accidents in one year, which is itself less than 0.1 per cent of the age group, is greater than all the American deaths in the Vietnam war through the summer of 1967.ContinuedLindsey Williams is a Sun columnist who can be contacted at:LinWms@earthlink.netLinWms@lindseywilliams.orgWebsite: http://www.lindseywilliams.org with several hundred of Lin's articles written over 40 years, and his book "Boldly Onward," about the original explorers of America.
Keyword : War, Peace, Viet Nam, anthropology
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