Why are we so easily offended by the repugnant images and consequences of war, while morally supporting its..?

Question

... dreadful continuation with our quiet indifference and misplaced votes?

Out of sight out of mind – it’s someone else’s problem, right?

Are the politicians the ONLY hypocrites among us?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHSDMZcwz70

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Answer 1

Amen.

Answer 2

Of course politicians are not the only hypocrites among us. We kind of gave them the status they possess. As far as misplaced votes and quiet indifference; well, some people aren't smart enough to get their heads out of the sand. When we see pictures of war, especially if we are in the presence of others or are expected to speak on it (say something like 'that's horrible' or 'i feel bad for them'), a lot of us only do so because it's expected and is considered the norm. If we honestly said 'i'm just glad it's not me' we'd be persecuted by some right? When in the back of our minds, a lot of us -- most of us -- would rather it be someone else suffering as opposed to those who we know personally. Keep in mind, I'm not saying that everyone that says that they sympathize with people in war doesn't mean what they say, it's just that some are actually sympathizing, others are being 'human', and others are lying through their teeth. I honestly do believe that war is horrible, but on a grander scale there is simply no possible way to stop the humankind from warring at all times. If anything, sometimes it's a help (Malthusian laws) being so we keep straining our resources as we keep reproducing like fricking rabbits. Not sure if this helps. Hope it does though.

Answer 3

war is war

Answer 4

Should we not be offended by these repugnant images? Is it not or should it not be ingrained in the moral human fiber to feel this way? As someone who has seen the face of war up close and personal I understand your point probably more so than some. I do however feel the need to share with you this, politicians, protesters, those who are indifferent, who is in office or their agenda.......once you are on the ground and that first bullet goes by you with that sickeningly audible "CRACK", as it breaks the sound barrier. None of that matters to you at all. The only thing that matters is getting the job done and getting it done without getting killed or wounded or having your friends killed or wounded. My point is this....at every level there will be selfish reasons for what is happening...granted some reasons are better than others, but never the less, still self serving...So in the end it falls to the individual to make the right choices...Try to be informed and make them wisely is my only suggestion...

I did not watch your clip as any act of voilence in War is commonplace, as is brutality....shock value has no meaning for me...

Answer 5

we dont defend the war we defend the troops

Answer 6

I am reminded of a poem by Lord Tennyson,  The Charge of the Light Brigade.  The second stanza fits the bill esp.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'

Was there a man dismayed?

Not tho' the soldier knew

Some one had blundered:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die...

The image of America has taken a nosedive worldwide,  after their 'intrusion' for reasons less noble.  The whole world knows it was Economics,  pure & simple.  From 'Big Brother' to  'Big Bully'!!!  

All that the World needs,  very badly  at this moment,  is a "'messiah" to bail the humanity out of the mess that it has inextricably landed itself in (who started what is immaterial at this point).  The politics of greed,  hatred,  mistrust is only spreading its tentacles far & wide...and very deeply too.

P.S.  The video is highly disturbing,  needless to say.  Killing of an untrained child (who was probably instructed by his elders to kill any intruders),  by highly trained soldiers speaks for itself.

Answer 7

What some people perceive as repugnant does not determine what is moral.  The pictures rotting bodies of n**i soldiers and victims of the concentration camps  were both repugnant.  

Should we not have taken a moral stand then?

The clip gave no background.  The boy certainly had the capacity to kill the soldier.  How can one even try to judge without knowing  the situation?

Answer 8

"Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace."

- Oscar Wilde

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfGesab0C...

Answer 9

Because they don't show you charred bodies and decapitations in the brochure.

(ie - War is slickly advertised and rationalized and sanitized, being ever so careful not to reveal the brutal gory reality of it, thats why the military hates free-lance journalists and why the public is shocked when they learn the real story)

Answer 10

War was never meant to be pretty. War is the aftermath of failed diplomacy. It does not matter if it was the Romans vs the British, Persians vs Sparta, Germany and Japan vs the world, or any other war. War has been going on since the invention of the rock. The war you are complaining about is the Iraqi and Afgani wars. These wars were started because of failed diplomacy also. Saddam led us to believe that he had WMD and we believed him. The Taliban were so cruel that they made the n***s look like good guys. So after all means of talk and sanctions had failed we went off to war. Yes this has become a long war, but we are there. The worst thing that could happen to United States Foreign Policy is us just walking away, like we did in Vietnam. We won every battle during Vietnam but lost the war because Henry Kissenger gave it away at the negotiation table. These two wars we are in now can and should be won. We lost 50,000+ during Vietnam and we have lost only 4000 now. It is safer for a soldier to be in Iraq then to drive his car near his home.

The time for saying I don't support the war, but I support the troops has ended. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. No soldier wants to go to a war in the first place, they would rather train. But if sent to war, they want to win, not go halfway and be sent home without a victory.

Do you want the world to think that anytime you do anything to America or Americans you can get away with it? That is what leaving Iraq and Afganistan would be like. So don't tell me about the horrors of war. I was a B52 pilot during Vietnam. I never set foot in the country. My Soldier, Sailor, and Marine friends told me what my aircraft could and did do. A true military man or woman's mission is to train, but sadly we also have to kill people and break things. War will never end as long as there are two people left on this earth. No war is just. No war is fair. No war is a waste of time. No war fought should be quit.

Answer 11

The repugnant images and horrible consequences of war are concrete, tangible things -- real in time and space.

The ideology and reasonings behind war are intangible and abstract -- not real in time or space, just a nice tidy packet of ideology in the mind.

Hypocrisy occurs when others, who know your abstract ideologies, see the negative concrete results that occur when those ideologies are put into action.

If the concrete results of an ideology put into action are positive, no hypocrisy occurs.  Everything meshes.

We forget, in the pure momentary delight of creating neat little intellectual/ideological thought packages, that the concrete results of these ideologies might not be as neat and pleasant as abstract thought would have them be.

It's a human foible in a lot of things, not just war (love, for instance, falls prey to the same tendency humans have to confuse the abstract and the concrete.)  And all humans have it, not just politicians.

It's just that politicians have learned that they can get money and fame out of the predicament...

Answer 12

The problem is that after we see such horrible things, we tend to forget about them the day after.  Since they are not part of our daily life, they don;t seem to matter.  This often makes me angry, yet fits my situation so mcuh that I'm depressed by how much of a hypocrite I am.  People seem to only want to help as much as they are expected to because despite the fact that they do not like other people suffering, they don't want to suffer.  Furthermore, some people believe that war is always inevitable, "us against the enemy" ideology, which is really a driving force behind it.  It is so much easier to say "Those people are evil and I'm not so I don't have to do anything."  Politicians are simply the ones who must encourage or discourage and cannot ignore it like we can, so they have to take responsibility.  I agree that we, to some extent are selfish hypocrites, though I'd hardly say everyone is like that.  The power of humanity is to conquer instinct.

Answer 13

The repugnant images and consequences of war touch our worst fears and our compassion. Our reasons, however, for supporting or loathing particular wars have not nearly the scope of the reasons and variables that cause war. People support war that seeks to uphold their political, economic, religious, and/or social beliefs, regardless of the horror of the process.

Do not those of us who are not directly affected, but have social ideals of eliminating war, support those politicians who are anti-war? Are not those who are patriot soldiers, or believe potential outcomes will result in political systems that fit their agenda, supportive of those politicians that are willing to sustain war?

Sometimes we vote in politicians that are consistent with expectations; other times we are let down by unexpected inadequacy or corruption. I think the latter is less frequent in U.S. history, despite that we don't often have leadership that "wows" everyone. That is as much a product of the times as the integrity of the elected.

Right, indifference is greater when it is out of sight out of mind, and one is the average western person concerned with one's own life. I don't think politicians are any more hypocritical than most people. Politicians are simply more scrutinized, and their foibles more noticeable, because they have to talk about their agendas and convince others that they want the best interests of the most people. They are easy scapegoats. Some are two-faced; all have to like power to an extent, and must have strong egos. They need certain qualities for lives in the limelight. Their ugliness is magnified. Their inconsistencies are magnified. But if there were objective parameters to measure hypocrisy of all populations, it is doubtful politicians are any more inconsistent in beliefs vs. actions than the degree to which hypocritical elements exist in the general population.