Assignment 9 - Ian Harrison

War is brutal and savage, and if we claim to be such an advanced and civilized society, shouldn't we have done away with such atrocities long ago? The question itself is flawed because war proves that our society remains flawed and damaged to the point where war becomes arguably necessary. When people can somehow find the justification to attempt to eradicate an entire group of people bound together by ethnicity, religion, race, or country, we cannot claim to be a peaceful society. War could perhaps be considered a symptom of a sickness that still pervades us: hate. Hate that drives us to blindly kill. Hate that tells us one man is superior to another. Hate that brings forward the worst in all of us. In a perfect world, war would be unheard of. Some of the wars we fight may be necessary simply because hate only listens to more hate. There was most likely no other to way to prevent genocide during World War II than to kill thousands in return. This was because one man had enough hate to believe that this genocide was good and right. Unfortunately, it seems as though there will always be people like that, and equally unfortunately, many have the conviction to easily find their way into positions of power. Man is flawed, so despite the consequences, we will probably continue to do hateful and disgusting things on large and small scales. We will continue to fight in tragically unnecessary wars that always result in Pyrrhic victories. So yes, war is sometimes necessary, but it's a tragedy that it ever is.