Why War Happens
War happens when those with unchecked wealth and unchecked power get bored.
In this new war, as in all others, people are hurt and die, things lovingly built are destroyed, nature is overrun, wildlife of all kinds suffer, all because you and I have celebrated wealth and power over life.
Yes, I said you and I. War is always the result of the many who did nothing to stop it; not after war starts, but in the decades before it started. By the time a war begins — no matter who or why, the seeds of it have been sown for years if not decades. So, when and how we prevent future wars is the question that needs an answer.
There has been a shift in the human paradigm that has occurred over many generations in which the de facto purpose of life has strayed from the intrinsic values of creation and empathy. The new paradigm is the celebration of wealth and power over all other principles. Today we give lip service to ethics and fairness and dignity and compassion, but we loudly celebrate and worship wealth and power, no matter how it was gained and how it is wielded.
The embracing of democracy as a form of governance is evidence of people who acknowledge that life in all its forms is to be honored and that we all deserve a voice. It is also a recognition that wealth and power must and can be checked by each of us for the good of all. Yet, look at how democracies everywhere are coming under siege by those who now believe that the wealthy and powerful are actually people who “know better” than the rest of us.
As a result, many of us in this country and others are willing to place our entire lives in the hands of despots and autocrats in order to avoid the work of peace. That is a license for those despots and autocrats to start wars for their own personal entertainment. We only turn away from this new paradigm by honoring humanity over wealth and power.
It begins with a person-in-the-mirror moment: how do we, each and every one of us, defer to people whose only claim is wealth by giving them a voice (platform) that we don’t give others. This is how we all contribute to brutal acts of war like the one that just began.
I’ll start: I caught myself reading an article which claimed to be a news story but turned out to be a fluff piece about Elon Musk and treating his every word as a message from on high. If you have ever actually paid attention to this guy you have been seduced by this new paradigm. There is nothing newsworthy or even interesting about Elon Musk; he has nothing to say of any value to anyone other than those who are celebrating his wealth while ignoring his many dehumanizing words and deeds.
If we have learned anything from history, it is that having a large net worth, however it might have been acquired, does not automatically qualify someone for any other role in society. Yet, in practice today, we treat it as if it were an absolute measure of nobility. This isn’t the fault of the wealthy; they sometimes turn out to be great teachers and an inspiration to others. But money is not the primary evidence or cause of any of that. A far greater percentage of them turn out to act in some monumentally destructive ways.
The reality is that the percentage of the wealthy population that also turns out to be an inspiration to others and a contributor to humanity is no greater than the percentage of the non-wealthy. Yet, the non-wealthy are rarely sought out for their wisdom or guidance. That is the effect of this new paradigm that reigns in the modern world. The substance remains who we are as humans.
This glorification of the wealthy that presumes some level of character and wisdom is a corruption of our thinking on a societal level. But more importantly it is the beginning of the end for humanity as well as peaceful and civilized societies. This is precisely what has allowed Vladimir Putin to launch a violent and deadly war (is there any other kind) against an innocent country for no reason that anyone can discern other than his own personal entertainment.
By some accounts Putin personally controls over a trillion dollars in personal wealth, all earned on the backs of the Russian citizens. Those sanctions being imposed now are what should have happened decades ago. We may not have much say about Russia’s form of government, but we do and must have a say in how oligarchs everywhere impact the lives of innocent citizens outside their own countries.
When you glorify the wealthy and powerful regardless of their words or deeds, you contribute to this new paradigm and, ultimately, to future wars that will begin in their name. We have allowed people in this country to become so wealthy that they have their own space programs; much like a child would have their own model train set. What happens when having their own space program no longer keeps them entertained? They will become bored. We have also allowed individuals to become so wealthy and powerful that they can begin wars on their word alone. And, they will.
So, where will this insanity cease? Only as it has always ceased whenever and wherever it has risen in the past: by a refusal on the part of the many to be passive bystanders to this frat-party of wealth and power. How about you? Are you willing to dedicate your life in word and deed to something that will not make you rich? To something that serves to brighten the life of another rather than darken it under a cloud of terror?
Only you, and how you spend your time today, will and can ever thwart someone like Putin from starting a war; killing, displacing, destroying the lives of countless humans for his own entertainment. Ukraine is also a functioning democracy, but that may soon be taken from them. This new human paradigm virtually guarantees that it will also one day be taken from us?
We allowed this war to happen — not yesterday, but in our individual priorities over the last 20 or 30 years. We — you and I — failed Ukraine by our celebration of wealth and power. Some among us have even called Putin a “genius” and “savvy.” No surprise that the person uttering those words is also among the obscenely-wealthy, and has no regard for the people in the path of Putin’s missiles. But we still have a functioning democracy in which to wield the “power of one”, which is more than most people in the world have. How will you use it today?
