War

The “war” on drugs.
The “war” on crime.
The “war” on terrorism.
The “war” on piracy.
The “war” on spam.

Is there a thing that can’t be fought in the context of a war anymore? Concise wording has been replaced by sensationalistic hyperbole as the norm, it seems. Many of the words used in english to describe a struggle against something are just words about physical conflict. Words like ‘struggle’, or ‘fight’, or ‘resist’. The obvious penultimate physical conflict being war. If you aren’t fighting a war against something, you must not really be opposed to it. Or so the government (past and present administrations included) would have us believe. Politics in the US are extremely polarized. Issues are portrayed in black and white with each side having their own laundry lists of supporting evidence. No one will look for ways to reduce crime. Not when you can wage war on it. Anything less would be inadequate for todays extreme politics.

The concept that war is the answer to everything that we don’t like in society is insane. Can we wage war on poverty? What about healthcare problems? How about war on drunk driving? Or maybe war on AIDS? War on war?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.