How can war be both a destructive and a creative force?

Question

How can war be both a destructive and a creative force?

Answer 1

Necessity is the mother of invention.  But, without a war for survival, there usually isn't the necessity to invent a lot of things.

The 747 jumbo jet.  Nobody would have paid the R&D costs, except that the US government needed to drop bombs on Japan.

The computer.  A machine? That can think???

But, it was the perfect code breaker.

Answer 2

Kind of a loaded question because I think the destructive part is pretty clear. I'm getting that you're really questioning the creative part. Probably the most studied and most complex conflict was WWII. Again, the destruction was evident and I won't detail that part. What was created as a direct result of WWII:

1.Two emerging superpowers in the US and USSR and the start of the Cold War.

2.A divided Germany controlled in part by occupied forces.

3.Israel in 1948.

4.A healthy and justified fear of nuclear annihilation.

Those are just a few things "created" from the conflict that otherwise wouldn't have happened or at least not so immediately had it not been for the war.

Answer 3

Not, that I'm advocating war, but many, many, many inventions that save lives were invented for military use.  Medivac helicopters, quick-clot, the internet, etc.  Look for yourself, you'll find more things than you can believe that evolved from military uses.

Answer 4

every coin has two sides...its just how u look at it

personally i feel war is nothing but utter destruction

but now that you have mentioned its the after effects of war that has caused renaissance, reformation, industrial revolution and the world we live in today

Answer 5

many people will die but the current stereotypes shall be changed for the better or for the worse. ^_^

Answer 6

war creates destruction; that's about it but is sometimes necessary, as was the case with WWII

Answer 7

War is a catalyst for change.

After the destruction, what's left?

Sometimes new nations emerge and new alliances are formed. Treaties and diplomatic ties bond victor and vanquished. Each having the knowledge of what the other is capable of.

Of course this depends on who wins. Both militarily and politicly. There has to be a clear winner.  The war in Iraq is being won by the U.S. militarily, but not politicly.  This should not happen otherwise the war will never end. If the "enemy" whatever is left of them, sees that there is division among  their adversary, can, and will, claim victory merely by saying so. And will fight on. That's why talk of "getting out of Iraq" is a very dangerous thing.

A prime example of not winning is North Korea and Vietnam. We talked our way out of those wars with the end result of millions of people being enslaved and killed.  Word of note, Whenever you hear of a "cease fire" in the middle east. all that means is that one side is temporarily out of ammunition.

WW 2 destroyed Europe and parts of Africa, and Japan. And with that destruction there arose new nations willing to work together towards peace.

New technologies arise during war. The little computer your sitting in front of is a direct creation of war. As are new manufacturing techniques and products. And please don't forget the advances in medical technologies and treatments.

There is another aspect to war. Freedom. If we were to have lost any of the number of wars that the U.S. was involved in, would you have been able to even ask your question?

Answer 8

It destroys lives and creates h**l.