“War what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. … War is an enemy to all mankind.” ~ Edwin Starr
National Ugly History Day
How can we get closer to peace and prevent new wars?
What if we all had a national day looking at our own nation’s crimes? What if we yearly faced our own ugly history pages and remind ourselves, please what led us to falling into these traps? Who did we purposefully hurt?
Let’s take the question above and walk with it through a very short history of the current 21st century global violence. And let’s ask ourselves why we keep making the same mistake again and again?
The core of repetitive violence is threefold.
- Trauma begets Trauma. Alcoholism among people with alcoholic parents is way more common. Abuse by parents who themselves had abusive parents is way more common too. Nations plagued by violence tend to arm up and commit violence, often for reasons of (self-)defence, read revenge.
- Psychopath leaders. Self centred people with a lack of empathy are often willing to dehumanise others in order to achieve their goals. This goes from simple scamming, to crime or selling poisonous products for profit. Nations with such leaders, or interest groups, generally show a similar willingness to hurt others. Especially when their own people believe what they believe, let alone tell them. In such cases they often tend to be more violent in expanding their interests. Note that when the US president Bush talked about ‘protecting our interests.’ he was at the least more honest than with the ‘bringing democracy’ by several previous presidents. Sadly we can also say he just showed more blatant arrogance, as he believed the USA could get away with it.
- Propaganda. When do people follow insane leaders? When the people get a convincing story boosting self importance or urgency, and or in many cases are forced into playing along too. The Spanish Empire proclaimed to bring the true faith to heathens in South America and sailed home with their gold. The British Empire proclaimed to carry the ‘White man’s burden’ to bring civilisation the backward peoples, bringing home their resources and treasures. The US Empire proclaimed to bring democracy and freedom to unfree peoples, and took corporate control over their natural resouces. And what if these ‘unfree’ people didn’t want the US ‘freedom’. Then the ‘freedom loving’ USA installed dictators like the Shah in Persia, or Pinochet in Chile. Through believe in such stories many willingly deceive themselves that they are on the good side of history. Letting go of such lies is often the hardest to do. Neo nazi’s, Evangelical Christians, Fundamentalist Muslims, Stiff Upper Lip Tories, MAGA, hardcore Communists, all stick to their story about reality like it’s their safety raft in a storm. They all are hurting, feeling victims. They all know who should lead and all arm themselves in various ways to draw, or enforce, the masses to their side.
A very brief look at 20th century violence
WWI and Germany
When empires clashed in WWI the winners humiliated Germany so much, that it seethed with frustration. The economic crisis that came up on top of that worsened the frustration. This frustration was picked up by Hitler and he rebranded Germany’s minority complex into a superiority complex; a trick many individuals with such a complex do too. Then WWII and the holocaust happened. It was so bad that the Jewish victims of this holocaust were offered their own state, Israel.
The Founding of Israel
The traumatised Jews arriving in this land had a ‘never again’ attitude. On top of that, Western powers helped them arm up. The traumatised new Israelis shoved their perceived local enemies out of, what they called, their promised country. On top of that many leading Jewish Israelis believed, still believe, they are the ‘chosen people’. This myth had helped Jews suffer through the all the centuries of persecution and being treated as second rank citizens. They too reframed their minority complex into a superiority complex. ‘We endure all this misery, because we’re actually God’s chosen people”.
“I believe, we need to drop this ‘We’re the Chosen People’ story. It holds us back and makes us commit crimes against others.” ~ Israeli Jew to me in 2016
The Birth of Islamic Terrorism
Note that Arabic terrorism and Iranian state violence was born in a similar trauma. First the paranoid and imperialist USA installed the Shah in Persia and rooted out the Persian socialists and had them persecuted in some other Middle Eastern countries too. The same USA started creating war after war in the Middle East, to obtain access to oil and prevent Russia to get the same kind of access. Communist Russia then invaded Afghanistan, and found their own ‘Vietnam’, giving socialism a bad name too.
Both nations treated the locals as warmongering primitives. Thus Afghans, Persians, and Arabs rallied around the remaining source of dominant connection among them, the Islam. Once flourishing Westernising cities as Kabul, Tehran, Beirut all became hotbeds of violence and radicalised Muslims (often funded by either the West or Russia to fight the ones on the other side, leading to, amongst others, the Syrian Civil War). And here too, it seems they found a new superiority complex. One which radicalised many towards violent forms of resistance against Western meddling, and more often each other.
Note: For those with a total lack of historic perception, once Islamic countries had the leading edge in science, culture and advancement. This Islamic Golden Age dates from the 8th century to the 13th century. They also were the most tolerant to those of different beliefs. Meanwhile, intolerant Christians drove Islam out of Europe, invaded the ‘Holy Lands’ with crusades and persecuted Jews.
Peace in Europe
So in each of the previous cases we see a rich melting pot. There’s trauma and victimhood. There’s economic interests driven by psychopath leadership or corporate self justification, both internally and from abroad. And there are stories that rally the people. The Americans got the ‘search for WMD’ (weapons of mass destruction) story and the Middle East got the Islamic state or Jihad story.
The 20th century has one very notable exception. When WWII was over the Western Allies understood that humiliating Germany again in such away might repeat history. Instead of humiliation they rebuild Western Europe with the Marshall plan. Also the honest way Germany publicly faced its own ugly pages of history should be noted. This brought over 70 years of peace in many European countries that before this never experienced such long periods of calm among each other. Sadly, in hindsight, we can also say the USA rebuild Europe to have a good consumer market for their products and build a power base against those ‘damned Communists’ in Russia.
As I wrote in an article before this one, both the USA and Russia also had their trauma’s. Combined with their own hawkish leaders they told their own populace they were on a mission for a better world. It was the other side who was the problem. In effect, as so often is the case, it ended up in expansion of power, influence and hunt for profits through access to global resources… at whatever the cost. And its mostly a few individuals at the top that really benefit from these hunts, screw the victims.
Explaining Current Conflicts Through The Lens of Trauma and Greed
The current war around Gaza is thus the result of centuries of trauma. This war is also a war creating more new trauma’s towards future wars. On one side we have the (almost) fascist leaders of Israel with their (‘God’s favourites’) superiority complex, and their ‘Never Us Again’ trauma unleashing their mental and physical damage onto the Palestinians. The Israeli arrogance is worsened by Biden’s ‘100% support’, read the ‘self-interest serving first’ Americans who love to prevent a strong Middle East.
On the other side we have the traumatised radicalised Hamas with hate driven leaders that have shown to be as much a plague to their own people, as towards their enemies. And we see spikes of hate against Jews all around the planet, even when they abhor Israelis leadership and actions. Many Jews and Palestinians are totally similar to normal people everywhere. They want to live in peace and stay away from all conflict.
Consider, around the globe millions of people are stuck in between self justifying murderous regimes attacking each other. And many traumatised peoples fight to serve or resist economic power interests of dominant nations. We see this among native Americans, among tribes in Africa, peoples in contested areas, or even Pacific Islands. The rule of power is, push away the ‘lesser’ people for interests of those with more (corporate or political) power.
In Ukraine we see the same thing. The Russian sought to stop Western expansion towards the East. Putin loves to keep access to natural resources in Eastern Ukraine. The West pushes Zelensky to go above self protection of the land they have. Ukraine must invest in ‘winning’ to give the West access to these same resources in their East, as reward for their support of this victimised country. And thus another two traumatised peoples fight to serve or resist economic power interests of two dominant nations.
Yemen. Saudi Arabia, with support of the USA, has unleashed hell upon those in Yemen not supporting their interests. These traumatised people now attack in revenge the global shipping lane around their territory. And as result get bombed by the West too, who defend their shipping lanes. And thus another traumatised people fight to serve or resist economic power interests of dominant nations. I think, if they’d helped Yemen to end hunger en rebuild they could have ended this war with half the costs the military is making while not destroying a country and generations.
Whatever China claims about Taiwan, it’s about economic power interests. Whatever India or Pakistan claim about Kashmir, it’s about power interests. Whatever Serbia claims about Kosovo, it’s about economic power interests. Whatever country X claims about Y, it’s about economic power interests.
Whatever any country stokes its traumatised citizens with, it’s really about economic power interests of their own leaders and or foreign interests.
What Way to Peace?
Bad leaders and true leaders.
Avoid journalistic traps that make you seem support a war. Whatever the propaganda tells you, whatever the media write about ‘logical’ reasons for war; when millions of people suffer, the leading culprits can’t be called ‘leaders’ any more. They must be called murderers and war criminals. They serve greed and trauma. They diminish safety and chances for peace for current and future generations.
Beware of ‘Strong Leaders’. They’ll lie to use you as they use others. They are often the same kind of men, as those they oppose. Bad leaders promote a ‘justified’ wars. Traumatised people love ‘strong leaders’ who promise to take their pain away. Such strong leaders (Putin, Biden, Netanyahu, etc) seek support of foreign powers while sacrificing their own people in wars their people don’t want, unless they believe the propaganda. Bad leaders enlarge old trauma’s and or create new ones, even for their own people. Bad leaders serve economic interests at the cost of many lives, while lying about it in the media. Bad leaders call themselves strong. And as a result even their own people end up wounded, while they cling to stories of heroism and sacrifice for the nation as a band aid for the hurt. Just check how such leaders treat veterans who come home broken.
True leaders seek to heal trauma of their own people and of the perceived enemy. True leaders help to build up their neighbours and the strangers, minorities among them, to prevent internal trauma. True leaders put healing and a healthy planet above power interests.
Conclusion
We cannot conclude other than that the USA, Russia, Israel and others are backward barbaric war mongering states that through their power struggles damage the planet, traumatise and hurt their own and other peoples.
Bombing for peace has never worked and never will. Humiliating an enemy to serve them ‘right’ never solved any conflict forever.
Overpowering and or installing regimes serving a dominant power always leads to resistance and new enemies. Destabilising countries to keep them down always comes back to haunt the culprit in unexpected ways. Think 9/11.
If you want real peace and prosperity, then help the ‘enemy’. Stay out of ‘our interests’ rhetorics. Stay out of meddling in other nations. Do not arm any side. Offer humanitarian help to victims where you can. Make friends across the planet. Speak truth to power. And serve your own people as a whole best as you can.
Does this work? Yes. Look at the worlds happiest peoples, the countries with the best well of general populace, countries scoring high in most essential lists, such as least corruption, most freedom, best education, quality of life in general, etc. There we find countries not busy with expansion, caring for their own people with awesome, (often free or very cheap) healthcare, (often free or very cheap) education. Countries like Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark who endured decades of peace and prosperity. Their neighbours do not fear them (any more).
Their only worry is NATO and Russia, that seek to draw them into their games. Perhaps even the USA seeks to destabilise Scandinavia a bit, because their own population, looking at healthcare benefits over there, sees too much likeable (almost socialist) things they lack. And the paranoid, money hungering, scamming-its-own-people-elite of the USA can’t have that. The self enrichment of the US ‘healthcare’ industry would rather expand their practices oversea, as they currently try towards the post Brexit UK. Thus beware of any ‘good’ reasons those greedy for money and power sell you.
Final Lessons
Never generalise a people or nation as one whole. Israel has a huge (silenced in the media) peace movement against this massacre. Most Palestinians just want to live in peace and don’t support Hamas. Most Americans aren’t even aware or interested about what their country does abroad. They may even be against their own imperialist war industry. Etc.
Always wonder what old trauma is spoken to, and who benefits from your anger or fear. Always follow the money. And support true leaders over ‘strong’ ones.
There’s also hope. Especially peace keeping organisations, peace negotiations and treaties help diminish violence. In most conflicts less people fall victim compared to the 20th century, as this map shows. Sadly recent conflicts, as in Ukraine, Gaza or Yemen threaten to upset this trend.
Promote reconciliation and peace initiatives. Many will remember Rabin’s attempt as peace with Palestine. Many will not know about the untold many small and bigger peace efforts around the world, by individuals with neighbours, global organisations and leaders with integrity. Many will remember Mandela’s truth commissions exposing and healing the trauma of Apartheid. And sadly many will know about how hard it is, for new leaders, to not fall into the trap of “now it’s our turn to take everything!”. As we have sadly seen in South African leaders after Mandela.
Organise a ‘National Ugly History Day’. This day is held each year on the same day world wide. I propose February the 7th, or the generally worst weather day of the year in your nation. This day each nation or people face their own wrongdoings. They all will remember and accept the crimes they committed in their history. Think crimes against minorities, other nations and peoples, and even nature through pollution. they stand still at the conscious lack of action against such crimes, genocides, ecocides and or war crimes. Too often we only remember our glory days and victimhood days. Yet only when we face our own traumas, our own mistakes, our own ugly history can we start to heal and consider out path to politics that avoids making similar mistakes again.
And finally Imagine we trusted artists more than ‘leaders’ when talking about peace politics.
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For more understanding on why wars keep happening, two more articles I wrote on the matter (with a friend link added)
A short teaching story on how we all easily fall into the same psychology.
An article on all the cunning tricks used to draw you into war.
