America, the world's mightiest military force, the most warring nation on the
globe, and the only nation whose president authorizes deadly drone strikes, has
a chronic war habit.
I find myself asking: "Since America was born in the womb of
war, will she die in the arms of war?" It's not a rhetorical question. A habit
passed down through generations dominated and led by the
military/industrial/political triumvirate has yet to be kicked. It's reasonable to assume that, if the habit isn't kicked, it could eventually lead to this national
epitaph: "She died in the arms of war."
The aim of this short essay is to analyze America's war habit, what its nature is, what sustains
it, and what can be done to end it before it leads to America's
demise sometime in this century.
Habits: Part of Our
"Life's Equation"
Habits are repetitive behavior. That's their nature. They
are nearly reflexive, occurring without much or any forethought whenever
circumstances trigger them. A chronic habit is an ailment that won't go away on
its own.
Habits are a part of the "life equation" for all of humanity. The equation is
not mathematical, but it just may be the most important one you will ever
encounter, because you own it and it affects your life. Here's what the equation
looks like in its general form for everybody:
Personal
Characteristics + Circumstances = Behavior + Its Consequences
Of course, every person has his or her own particular
life equation, sort of like each person's unique DNA code, but the particulars of the
equation can change from day to day. Since a habit is repetitive, what changes
about it is the many different forms it can take: for example, going
to military parades or scoffing at pacifists like me.
The life equation is really common sense. It simply means that
every one of us behaves in various ways, that those ways have consequences, and that our
behavior can be explained by our own personal characteristics and the circumstances in which
we happen to find ourselves or that we help create.
The War Habit
Sustained
Habits, even though they are repetitive, need to be sustained. We can look to the
left side of the equation for the primary sustainers. There are six of them:
Sustained by Our Psychological Makeup
We are a complex species. Each of us has our own
psychological makeup (PMU), and it is complex. Multiply us exponentially, and
you get an idea of the complexity. My own field of knowledge, psychology, has been
around for over a century, but still does not provide all the answers we need to fully understand our species. Of course, that's not a criticism of the field.
Our PMU is like a soup with many ingredients. Swish it
around, add some circumstances, and you get us. The PMU ingredients that serve as primary sustainers of the war habit are our needs, values, beliefs,
personalities, and knowledge.
Consider our needs. A basic one is the need for physical
security. Americans constantly have it drummed into their heads that they
can't be secure without the war habit.
Consider our values. For some people, "instrumental"
values are stronger than "end" values. People with an ingrained war habit
have strong instrumental values.
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