I recently finished the book War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges for the second time. It is an infinitely interesting account of a war correspondent's experiences in war-torn countries, but it is also infinitely disturbing. Even the title itself makes me shy away, not wanting to believe what I'm reading and this continues through the entire book.
Mr. Hedges does an amazing job at exposing the darkest part of humanity and taking his readers into that world that we try very hard to ignore. This is the part of us that takes joy from war and finds unity in hatred. This is the side of human nature that wants to separate the world into black and white, them and us.
Some of the stories that Hedges tells in this book illustrate this "them vs. us" mentality very well and also illustrates the intrinsic dangers of war that go beyond bullets and blood and reach into the very heart of a nation's identity and people. He tells of nations that have spread propaganda in order to create the illusion that the enemy is barbaric, different, and almost un-human in order to create a frenzy of righteous anger among the population. Officials make pointless motions toward creating even more space between the two groups, even going so far as to change a country's language in order to make deeper distinctions.
Armed with feelings of patriotism and national unity, the populations of these countries are safe in the knowledge that they are on the "right" side of any war they engage in. This creates a kind of blindness to the atrocities committed by "their" side, but puts the atrocities of the "other" side under a microscope that makes them bigger and uglier. It becomes more difficult for people to see distinctions between groups of people and individuals when this "war frenzy" is upon a population.
Dissenters are quickly shouted down and called unpatriotic for speaking out. If they are arrested or they disappear, very few people are inclined to look into it.
Hedges also addresses how war is glorified by the media and the government. They show pictures of the aftermath of a battle or the bombs falling without showing the actual dead and dying men and women and children who might have been killed in the fighting. As a war correspondent, however, Hedges saw everything involved in battle and was oftentimes just as affected as any soldier.
This is perhaps what makes the book so incredibly disturbing: almost everything is a first-hand account of how war can affect a person on a personal level, even one not engaged in actual fighting.
Hedges writes about one time that he was returning home after a long stretch in a war-torn area, not sure when or where the bombs would fall. At the airport desk, he encountered a minor problem (he doesn't remember what it was now) and promptly attacked the attendant, repeatedly punching him in the face until he was dragged off by airport security.
Another account tells of when Hedges was caught in a trench with a platoon of soldiers. One of the men was mortally wounded and lay there for hours calling for his mother. Hedges says that at first he felt bad for him, but as the bullets kept flying, he began to simply wish that he'd be quiet.
There are stories of hope in this book, though, such as the account of the Muslim man who gave a Croatian family milk from his cow every day for their newborn child, whose mother was too hungry to produce milk of her own. Despite the fact that the Croatians were at war with the Muslims and despite the fact that the rest of the town condemned him for doing it, the man continued until the family was able to move away to a safer place.
Hedges doesn't condemn all wars, either. He says that while no war is "good," there are some wars that need to be fought to stop some great injustice. Nevertheless, he implores countries and citizens to be aware of the reality and the true cost of war. He believes that this will prevent us from getting into pointless wars or having the true reasons for the wars obscured by "patriotism" and I tend to agree with him.
I don't believe that people would be nearly so eager to start wars or to continue them if they knew the true cost and saw the true suffering on both sides. Without getting caught up in the anger and nationalistic blindness, we can decide what wars are truly necessary, and which are truly not.
I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars and urge anyone who is a voting member of society to read it.
Written by kablock
War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
By: Chris Hedges
ISBN: 9781400034635
$11.16 new on Amazon.com
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I have to find a copy of that book
"when you hold a pen, you are at war" Attributed to Voltaire