We have become so efficient in killing each other!

My grandfather who fought in World War I (1914-1918) and came back injured but alive was one of the lucky ones. The total loss of soldiers in that war was between nine and 11 million and the death toll among civilians was between 6 and 13 million. It is disheartening to find as you examine the incredible death count from wars that the numbers have huge margins of error. In war time the loss of a human life doesn’t even get recorded accurately. But even the vague upper and lower limits that are estimated blow the mind. 

If the loss of life in World War I was not horrific enough it was followed by World War II (1939-1945) in which the loss of life was even higher. In World War II between 21 and 25 million military personnel died but the death count among civilians was a shocking 50 and 55 million.

I wanted to look at deaths in wars from roughly the year 2000 and the table looks like this.  

I find it disturbing that,

a. We no longer have accurate figures for deaths from war (huge margins of error)

b. We no longer get robust reliable reporting on atrocities from war zones allowing more injustices to be perpetuated (often reporters are not allowed in)

c. Wars can last decades and break out again and again

d. Civil wars are particularly bloody in terms of deaths

e. The fact that rushing to make war rarely solves any problems long term seems never to be recognised by any side

f. Some countries in particular, like Sudan, are plagued with conflict again and again. The UN has described it as “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history”

However, horrifying the loss of life has been in these regional wars, another world war (World War 3) would be several orders of magnitude larger than anything ever encountered before in history.  We have become so efficient in killing each other that it is genuinely hard to get your head around the figures! A Princeton simulation called "Plan A" calculated that a nuclear war between the United States and Russia could result in 91.5 million casualties in the first few hours!  

Consider human ignorance and inconsistency. A man who kills another man is punished by execution, but a military genius who kills one hundred thousand of his fellow creatures is immortalized as a hero. 

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Nasty History - learning from the shadows

I always hated history in school. There were several reasons.

1. I have long suffered from the blackboard memory. In order to learn a date or name or event something else has to be erased. The actual content in memory banks does not seem accumulative but substitution in nature.  I cite for evidence, the fact that I studied French for seven years without any success. Spent 10 years in Greece and remain bereft of the Greek language. In fact despite my love of writing the reason I chose science as a profession was largely due to my atrocious spelling in English.  Anything requiring memorisation, I have always sought to avoid.        

                                                               

                                                                        

2.  For some reason history syllabus’ all around the world have a ‘cockeyed’ view of history. So, for example, in the UK thousands of years of history is almost ignored in favour of modern world wars. Which always struck me as a wasteful direction of human intellect. If we studied war history with a view of avoiding future conflicts and their associated catastrophic loss of life then perhaps it would be beneficial. Future generations could learn from past mistakes. Instead history, wherever it is taught, seems to focus on the glorification of battles and nobility of killing fields. Stirring up nationalistic fervour in the younger generation so they will be willing fodder for the warfare of the future.

Or as in the words of George S McGovern

“I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”

More impressive still when you know the background of George S McGovern.

• He was a pilot of World War II 
• Holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross 
• On one his missions as a pilot, his plane had 110 holes in the fuselage on its return
• Was a history professor
• Sought to end the Vietnam war
• Was instrumental in the creation of the United Nations World Food Bank program
• Was the First UN Global Ambassador of World Hunger 

Not bad for someone who once was known as an average student, painfully shy and afraid to speak a word in school when young.  On to my third reason to dislike history.

3.   My history teacher was a vindictive woman who really should not have been left in charge of children or indeed sentient animals of any kind. In future, I think we should look at teachers and “ask would I trust this person with an ill hamster”. That sensitivity to see to the needs of vulnerable dependents, nurturing their well-being and their growth and well-being, free of any hurtful tendencies to those under their care should be the basic benchmark.

Having said all that I am a voracious reader even at school loved Edward Gibbon’s ‘The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire’. It covers the period from 98 to 1590. In particular, I liked one of his lines of bitting comment,

“As long as mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the voice of the most exalted characters.”

or rather more pessimistically still,

“history is indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind.”

If you ever despair of today's morals and standards. Feel that they have reached levels of degradation beyond that ever encountered before. Read Gibbon’s book and be reassured that humanity has ever had the ability to sink to levels almost beyond our imagination  in their grotesqueness and cruelty. In fact, it is our ability to sink to levels  far below those of wild animals that almost defines us as a human species. Don't get me wrong. I believe humanity can rise to heights we cannot see in the shadows of the present valleys. But if we are to attain future summits we must never lose sight of the very real gorges and chasms that make up our historical landscape. We need to recognise the dark places and hateful deeds that make this world hell like. Register them for the decline they represent and turn away from such darkness.

Then, when we hear the hateful prejudices that have ever blighted mankind’s history we can make wiser choices. Or when nations flee from war or starvation to our borders we would realise our response is a test of our very humanity.  When cities of civilians are bombed into oblivion does our silent acquiescence not speak volumes?  For history always judges on what was actually done to our fellow humans and our role for better or worse in response to that. These heroes or villains are made, today and in history, by how are they responded to what went on around them. Hard choices in difficult days by heroic individuals, down through the ages, create lights that lead to better days for us all.