Think about No Conflict, by A.J. Smuskiewicz

I bear in mind, from after I was learning biology on the College of Illinois within the early Eighties, a genetics professor speaking to our class about Jews and Palestinians. I recall him sharing his view with us that the battle between these two teams of individuals—every violently preventing for his or her perceived spiritual, cultural, and organic identities—was illogical, as a result of, biologically talking, they’re an identical folks.

This professor was apparently referring particularly to these Jews with a purely Center Japanese genetic heritage, versus these with substantial European genetics. His expressed view was clearly an oversimplification of the advanced genetic and historic backgrounds of each teams of individuals. Nonetheless, it’s true that scientific analyses have recognized sturdy genetic similarities between modern-day Jewish folks and modern-day Palestinians, in addition to sure different Center Japanese folks.

So, in a way, the seemingly limitless and worsening Israeli-Palestinian battle actually quantities to brother preventing and killing brother.

In fact, the identical form of genetic similarities exist between many teams of individuals which have been in battle previously or which might be in battle at this time. Ukrainians and Russians. English, Irish, and Scotts. Chinese language, Japanese, and Koreans. North and South within the American Civil Conflict. Evidently, all individuals are in the end associated to at least one one other, and all of us have our genetic roots in Africa. We’re all in the end brothers and sisters.

That sounds all good, heat, fuzzy, and groovy. However so what. Being associated to some man doesn’t imply you’ll be able to’t hate him—and even wish to kill him. Loads of actual brothers and sisters and different members of the family can’t stand one another. So, what the hell is my level in even citing all this genetic stuff?

Conflict is a waste

My level is to recommend that folks would possibly profit from some deeper reflection—apart from simply selecting a facet to assist—relating to the conditions in Gaza and Ukraine and all the opposite horrible wars and ugly hatreds which might be dominating world occasions today, threatening to throw us all into World Conflict III. For instance, I assist the Russians and the Palestinians within the present raging conflicts. However that assist exists at just one degree of my consciousness and mental reasoning—at a degree the place I select sides amongst opponents based mostly on my understanding of the latest geopolitical occasions which have led as much as specific conflicts, together with my notion of what components represent the ethically “proper” or “simply” facet of the argument.

Nevertheless, at a deeper degree of my consciousness and mental reasoning, I’m conscious of the dishonesty and stupidity of selecting any facet in any warfare, and I’m conscious that each one wars are immoral workout routines in folly and absurdity. The one actual beneficiaries are politicians and weapons makers. The nice lots of standard folks on each side of any battle all the time should pay the worth. The unfortunate people who get killed or come dwelling from the pointless warfare with mangled our bodies and fucked-up minds pay the most important value. Moreover, no matter outcomes consequence from a warfare, irrespective of which facet “wins,” serve primarily to put the groundwork for future conflicts and extra wars.

Finally—with any warfare—nobody will bear in mind, and plenty of lies can be informed about, how or why the preventing began, what was really achieved by the preventing, and who really received or misplaced. Whereas I’ve been intently following the occasions in Ukraine and Gaza, I additionally determined to reread certainly one of my favourite books—Gwynne Dyer’s Conflict, initially revealed in 1985.

A pair paragraphs from Dyer’s e-book that I believe actually stand out and that ought to be stored in thoughts by any enthusiastic supporter of any facet in any warfare are the next. Dyer positioned these paragraphs after an outline of the traditional Egyptian-Canaanite-Syrian battle of Megiddo (Armageddon):

But all the hassle and sacrifice entailed in preventing wars—every of which appears so vital on the time—doesn’t really lead wherever. Ultimately, it’s just about canceled out. The one factor that makes the battle of Megiddo vital to us is the truth that we learn about it. It’s exhausting to really feel any actual sense of remorse in regards to the males who misplaced their lives on that day, as a result of they might have been useless for over 3,400 years now anyway. It’s unimaginable to care a lot about who received the battle, as a result of each side lived way back and much away, and most of what they cared for—their household and pals, their language, their faith, their private and political hopes and fears—has vanished completely. This isn’t in any respect the best way we really feel in regards to the Normandy invasion of 1944, but when historical past goes on lengthy sufficient, the day will come when Megiddo and Normandy will appear on a par: equally futile and equally meaningless.

Naturally, we resist and resent that conclusion with all our energy. That warfare of three,400 years in the past was clearly a mere energy wrestle with no ethical justification, whereas any warfare our nation turns into concerned in at this time can be simply and crucial. The troopers who had been killed on the battlefield of Megiddo died in useless, but when at this time’s technology of younger males should die on the Central Entrance in Europe, it can determine the ethical destiny of mankind endlessly. The person within the ranks of Thutmose III’s military of Armageddon was deluded in regards to the significance of his dying, however the man in a Chieftain tank (or a T-62) in Germany at this time isn’t. And I’m the Queen of Sheba.

Loopy about warfare

Throughout the previous few years, it looks as if the complete world has gone loopy about warfare. Gaza and Ukraine have not too long ago obtained the overwhelming share of media consideration, however as defined by the Armed Battle Location and Occasion Information Venture (ACLED), violent battle is raging all over. The next textual content is from the group’s January 2024 replace:

Battle [meaning war or other violent conflict] is now widespread and pervasive: 12% extra battle occurred in 2023 in comparison with 2022, and ACLED data a rise of over 40% in comparison with 2020. One in six folks stay in an actively conflicted space. In 234 nations and territories coated by ACLED, the bulk—168—noticed no less than one incident of battle in 2023. Over 147,000 battle occasions are recorded, and no less than 167,800 fatalities. . . .

Battle charges exist on a spectrum, and a few degree of battle happens in virtually each nation. The best ranges are discovered within the 50 nations highlighted within the Index checklist. These nations are categorized as ‘excessive,’ ‘excessive,’ or ‘turbulent.’ These prime 50 ranked nations account for 97% of all battle occasions recorded for the previous 12 months. The extraordinarily violent nations account for 40% of all battle. . . .

Of these nations with excessive violence, two are in Africa (Nigeria and Sudan), and Sudan continues to worsen as mass killings are a key function of that battle. Three nations are within the Center East (Palestine, Yemen, and Syria), underscoring the depth of issues that persist within the area throughout many years. Myanmar is the only Asian nation with excessive violence, nevertheless it stays essentially the most tough battle case on the earth. Lastly, 4 of the ten extraordinarily violent locations are in Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Haiti); barring Haiti, all are additionally thought-about comparatively secure democracies and market economies regardless of being riddled with gangs, contested authorities, corruption, and violence in opposition to civilians. There are not any massive, conventional wars in these nations, however a number of, lethal, pervasive small conflicts.

These small conflicts and their traits proceed to be essentially the most persistent function of instability throughout growing and more-developed nations. A key function of those conflicts is the variety of armed teams, and their agendas: a number of thousand militias and gangs function throughout these conflicts, and their objectives are sometimes native authority and management. They don’t search to manipulate, converse for maligned or excluded teams, or rework the political system to be extra democratic, honest, or consultant. They’re locked right into a contest for energy, the place violence is the best instrument out there to them. . . .

The world is getting way more violent in recent times: battle occasion charges have elevated by over 40% from 2020 by 2023; and elevated 12% in 2023 from 2022 charges. However 2020 was a comparatively much less violent 12 months in comparison with 2018-2019, when wars in each Afghanistan and Syria raged. In comparison with these years, the rise in 2023 continues to be vital at a mean of 20%.

Normalization of madness

Conflict and different political-religious violence is all the time horrible, inhumane, and evil—no matter no matter justifications are proclaimed by any facet. The first insane and immoral function that characterizes all wars is that this: Human beings are killing and maiming different human beings as a result of some highly effective or influential political or spiritual leaders informed them to take action. In wars, males usually are not usually compelled to go struggle and kill different males as a result of they had been personally wronged in any means. The person Russian soldier was more than likely not personally harmed by the actual Ukrainian troopers that he’s killing. And if that Russian had met these specific Ukrainians beneath regular, peaceable situations, he might need struck up friendships with them and went out collectively to drink beers or choose up chicks.

However the troopers on a battlefield have been whipped into hysterical frenzies by being fed propaganda by their governments. They’ve been psychologically manipulated into such irrational, irregular, pathological psychological situations that they’ll proudly and “bravely” slaughter their brothers on the battlefield—brothers that their governments or different authorities have satisfied them to view as enemies. The troopers, in the event that they possessed their regular peacetime ranges of sanity, would recoil in horror on the concept of killing different males, particularly strangers that they by no means even met earlier than. However in wartime, they willingly let go of that sanity and switch into murderous insane savages, as a result of they’ve been ordered to take action by authority figures, who inform them that it’s their patriotic obligation to kill.

Conflict is the normalization of madness. Short-term madness. Then when the troopers return to their regular civilian lives, if they’re lucky sufficient to outlive the brutal horror of warfare, they all of a sudden should act sane once more and return to remembering that homicide is dangerous. No marvel so many veterans have everlasting psychological injury.

Conflict as a sport

I’ve all the time been strongly anti-war, although, like most everybody else, every time a battle breaks out someplace on the earth, I discover myself rooting for one facet or the opposite if the battle, for some motive, pursuits me. So, I root for the Russians in Ukraine. I root for the Palestinians in Gaza. I persuade myself that the facet I choose is the “proper” facet.

Deep within the recesses of my mind, nevertheless, I intellectually know that each side are improper. I do know that, morally and ethically talking, killing is all the time improper—until it’s an individual-to-individual case of non-public self-defense. If a scary armed man breaks into my home to rob or kill me, I’ve an moral proper to shoot him to defend my life and property. That will be a logical motion in such a harmful private confrontation.

However I choose a facet in a distant warfare, removed from my dwelling, prefer it’s the fucking World Collection or Tremendous Bowl, although, fact be informed, the outcomes of these distant wars are completely irrelevant and meaningless to my life in a small city within the Midwestern United States. Completely meaningless, aside from the truth that my tax cash is being wasted on the wars. It’s virtually a sick type of leisure for me and different Individuals, who haven’t recognized warfare on our personal lands in 160 years. It’s like warfare porn. Test the newest information headlines and hearken to my most well-liked commentators to see how my facet is doing on the battlefield. So thrilling! I ought to really feel ashamed about it, if I’m sincere with myself.

When Carter reinstituted registration for the draft (or Selective Service) in 1980, I used to be 20 years previous and I registered beneath protest, by writing “beneath protest” on the registration kind. Like anybody within the Selective Service System gave a shit what I thought of it. Fortuitously, I by no means needed to go struggle in a warfare. If I had been born earlier and been compelled to take care of the Vietnam-era draft, I’m positive I’d have develop into a draft resister. Maybe a kind of guys who needed to flee to Canada. No means would I’ve gone to Vietnam.

I reject the army at each degree. I don’t assist American wars or politicians who push wars. Traditionally talking, the one wars that this nation fought that had been arguably ethically justified had been the Revolutionary Conflict and World Conflict II. All of the others had been unjustified imperialist adventures or different types of waste or pointless nonsense. Moreover, I don’t honor veterans or think about them “heroes.” Apart from the WWII vets, none of them fought for “freedom” or “democracy.” Reasonably, they fought for large grasping company pursuits. At greatest, vets is likely to be thought-about hapless victims and unlucky pawns within the evil, egocentric video games of the military-industrial-political advanced.

I really feel terribly sorry for the blokes who acquired sucked into the army, particularly these guys with the crippled our bodies and lacking limbs that I see within the TV commercials for Wounded Warrior and different veterans-help organizations. These commercials make me intensely hate the politicians that despatched these poor guys off to struggle within the pointless wars. Anyone ought to make these goddamn politicians undergo the identical destiny.

The one American warfare that I would assist is one during which the nation was instantly invaded by a hostile, malevolent overseas energy. It must be a matter of real nationwide self-defense. However, contemplating the seemingly hopeless cultural and societal rot during which the U.S. is mired today, I’d in all probability be tempted to assist the overseas invader.

Indigenous is irrelevant

Returning to the Palestinian-Israeli matter, that cycle of warfare appears to be limitless. So long as each side cling to their agency beliefs that they’re the true indigenous folks of the land, based mostly on their understandings of faith and historical past, the battle will proceed technology after technology. I used to be not too long ago a visitor on Kevin Barrett’s Reality Jihad podcast, discussing a variety of points. One of many points that got here up was the matter of who’re the actual indigenous folks of Palestine. Kevin asserted that there isn’t any query that the Palestinians are the actual indigenous folks of the land. I didn’t disagree, however I raised the purpose that the Jews won’t ever comply with that interpretation of historical past irrespective of how a lot proof is likely to be offered, as a result of they’ll level to the Bible and declare that God gave the land to folks of their faith 1000’s of years in the past.

Frankly, I don’t give a rattling who the indigenous or unique folks of Palestine had been. In scientific actuality, they constituted a tradition of individuals that’s lengthy gone and lengthy useless. There weren’t Palestinians or Israelis. They weren’t Jews or Muslims. In line with archaeologists, the primary individuals who lived within the land that’s now Palestine/Israel, greater than 11,500 years in the past, belonged to a now-extinct hunter-gatherer tradition known as the Natufian.

However on the level in historical past the place humanity is at this time, indigenousness is irrelevant anyway. If indigenousness is so vital, all of the white folks—and all different non-aboriginal folks—ought to get the hell out of North and South America and Australia instantly. However I don’t hear any severe argument calling for that. There are realities on the bottom at this time that merely should be considered in any proposed answer to the Palestinian-Israeli battle. Any “answer” that requires wiping out both Jews or Palestinians from the land isn’t life like.

Probably the most regularly heard proposed “answer” for many years has been the “two-state” answer, which might imply establishing an impartial Muslim/Arab-dominated state for Palestinians alongside the Jewish-dominated state of Israel. I don’t suppose that can ever work, as a result of all sides views the opposite too suspiciously and hatefully, and all sides would proceed to be obsessive about safety issues about their neighbor.

It’ s just like the previous joke about ladies. Can’t stay with them (can’t have two states). Can’t stay with out them (can’t wipe out the opposite group). The issue appears unimaginable to resolve. There appears to be no answer on this loopy world that we’ve got created—a world during which folks insist on dividing themselves into teams based mostly on spiritual, cultural, and nationwide identities.

Think about a unique world

It’s a tragic, miserable actuality, however we will nonetheless use our creativeness to suppose “exterior the field” of that self-imposed actuality. It’s a actuality that we created. If it’s not working proper, possibly it’s time we created a brand new actuality. What if we may, to paraphrase John Lennon, think about no faith, think about no nations . . . Nothing to kill or die for . . . Think about all of the folks residing life in peace.

I’ve usually thought that essentially the most logical answer to the Palestinian-Israeli dilemma can be the elimination of the present Jewish state of Israel, the abandonment of the thought of a separate Palestinian state, and the institution of a model new state with completely no spiritual ties and no spiritual/cultural preferences/references in any respect. It will be a very secular state during which all human beings have the very same rights, with totally equal distribution of sources, alternatives, and energy.

Individuals can be free to observe any faith or cultural habits of their desire, however there can be zero authorities involvement in faith or different conventional cultural issues. The federal government would merely care for the standard crucial authorities administrative enterprise and completely keep away from making any reference or having any connection to any faith. Whoever desires to stay within the land may stay there, with real equality protected for all. And anybody who began stirring up spiritual or cultural division—whether or not on the Jewish or Palestinian facet— can be prosecuted for a criminal offense. This land wouldn’t be known as by the inflammatory names of Israel or Palestine. Must provide you with a brand new, impartial identify. Peaceland?

It will be a system designed to permit Palestinians, Jews, and anyone else to stay on the shared land in peace, because the brothers and sister that they are surely. Cease all of the preventing, all of the divisiveness, and all of the God bullshit already, and simply be human beings.

That will be logical, rational, and humanistic, no less than in my evaluation. Sadly, individuals are usually extra emotional than logical. And that emotion retains them clinging to previous tribal concepts no matter how many individuals get killed or stay in distress as a consequence of that outdated tribalism. Evidently, there are additionally sturdy monetary motivations amongst sure stakeholders in holding the senseless tribalism and divisiveness going.

Nonetheless, if you would like a real, everlasting answer to the issue, I believe that’s the one one. Irrespective of how life like it may appear, it’s nonetheless the one logical, lasting answer. However making it actual would require a lot of folks to surrender a few of their longtime cherished notions about each themselves and their “enemies.”

Disgusted by warmongering

The identical kind of reasoning might be utilized to many of the different conflicts raging world wide. For instance, Russians and Ukrainians are brothers with deep historic connections, they usually shouldn’t be preventing and killing one another, goddamn it! The principle motive they’re preventing is due to the surface pushing of the American Empire, the revenue motive of the American military-industrial advanced, the ability motive of corrupt Ukrainian politicians, and the propaganda and brainwashing on each side of the battle. As well as, I believe that Russia, like the USA, has its personal military-industrial advanced that’s taking advantage of the prolonging of this silly warfare.

Conflict is the dumbest, most irrational of all human endeavors. Faith might be the second dumbest and second most irrational endeavor. I’ve completely no use for both. I would favor that people throw each within the trash bin of historical past and work collectively to construct new societies based mostly on logic, humanism, brotherliness, cooperation, and peace.

It’s possible you’ll say that I’m a dreamer. However I’m extraordinarily disgusted with all of the wars and warmongering within the information. The leaders of the world have gone insane of their obvious lust for World Conflict III. Maybe I’m a dreamer, however no less than I’m not insane like them.

And I’ll proceed to think about a world with out warfare.