War - Part Two: Anybody's Son Will Do (1 of 6)

A great documentary miniseries about this topic is War: A Commentary by Gwynne Dyer. In particular, the episode anyone's son will do: [link] [this video] The episode covers what goes into training young people who enter the marine core. It features candid interviews with drill sergeants and the recruits themselves about their motivations. Well worth a watch. One of the main points the episode makes is that the job of being a soldier is ultimately about killing and dying, something that doesn’t come naturally to most people. The method for turning young men into soldiers is basic training. According to Dyer the secret of basic training is that its not really about teaching people, its about changing people. He claims that if you want to change people quickly and radically, you put them in a place where the only right way to think and behave is the way you want them to. You isolate them and then apply enormous physical and mental pressure. i.e basic training. Essentially he claims that basic training is all about brain washing. In the linked interview Sebastian Junger talks a lot about what it means to be a man. In particular: “In that kind of environment,” Junger continues. “If you dare talk about what it means to be a man, what you’re saying is men are different from women.” and “We aren’t asking, ‘What does it mean to be a human being?’” he says. “‘What’s it mean to be a man?’ Once you have that conversation you offend a lot of academics.” and “Men are clearly wired for [war],” h

Yeah. It is interesting though. I think the classic PBS documentary "anyone's son will do" is great. [this video] I think war in the industrialized world is almost purely political. Wars in the modern day are arranged by old men and politicians and fought by young men. I don't blame the young men, but I think it goes back to some aspects of human biology and how young men see themselves and are manipulated through patriotism and other political forces to volunteer (or be conscripted) into a military to serve political ends. In a time before two tribes could communicate and apply some reason to things, force was the only way to resolve things. Force and violence is still a crude, simple, and effective path to changing human behavior so it of course is used, but if it is ever used between super powers the world is basically over. Anyhow, I digress.