I hear a lot of folks talk about how “Religion” is the cause of most of mankinds war. Or sometimes it’s “Resources”. But I believe those are all objectives, not the cause itself: Tyranny. Coercion.
If one nation sends its Army against another in order to convert them to ______, was it the religion that caused the war? Or was it the fact that one people desired to force it’s will upon another people who were determined to resist? I believe that the struggle between freedom and coercion is the root cause of war. Religion or natural resources or wealth may be objectives, but not the root cause.
There’s always an offending side and a defending side. The offending side is trying to force their desired outcome, and the defending side is trying to halt that force. The desired outcome isn’t the reason for the war. The reason for the war is one side are being dicks and one side are rightfully defending themselves.
War is mostly waged for economic reasons. Sometimes war is waged for cultural reasons. There is always a desired end state and often times multiple parties are aggressors. Thucydides wrote that fear was a primary cause of war and this remains the case.
But there is ALWAYS a desired end state on the part of an aggressor.
War is always a resource issue. I think that sometimes it is masked as a religious quest but in the end it comes down to “you have something I want or need”.
The fight was about money. The kid trying to take the money was trying to take it because it would provide him with something he wants or needs. He can take that money and buy something with it. The kid is defending himself not from an asshole, but from someone who is trying to take something from him, his lunch.
We have troops in the Middle East because of oil. Get rid of the oil and watch how fast people leave. Find a barren piece of land in the middle of nowhere and discover oil on it and watch how fast people will fight for it. No one fights for a barren piece of land, that’s why it’s barren.
It is always about power and control. It maybe power and control over a resource or a religion or any number of other things, but it all comes down to the expansion of power and control.
And Napoleon and Hitler would have each been an army of one … if they hadn’t been promisin’ folks some good shit would be comin’ their way if they fell into line.
No doubt these guys had monster egos and were consumed with a lust for power. But somebody was footin’ the bill for every one of their little adventures and those same folks were lookin’ for a healthy return.