War, What is it Good For?

Perhaps it is a product of parenthood or age, but war increasingly horrifies me.

It wasn't always that way.

As a young man, I considered it my duty to sign up for our national defence should it ever be necessary. I told myself that battle would be the ultimate testosterone fuelled test of courage and resilience, defending our glorious democracy and freedom.

It wasn't enough to make me want to join the army. I wasn't ready for the regimentation, but it's fair to say I accepted the way of war as a means of resolving differences.

Then I woke up to the fact that almost every modern war has been the product of government lies and propaganda.

It's well known that governments secretly engineer or fabricate incidents to help them justify armed conflict or invasions. Those lies are often not exposed until decades later when those responsible can no longer be held accountable.

War is a big-money industry, sponsored by politicians with no real skin in the game.