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Henry Haggart

10-27-15

War, What Is It Good For?


Nothing?
Recently, I was watching football with my family. At halftime, veterans
took out an american flag and raised it for the dead soldiers. For a second I
thought, Isn't it great that people fight for our freedom? Then I thought, Is
it really necessary? America has been at war 93% of the time over the past
240 years resulting in over 1,300,0001 american deaths. In many other
countries, war is a nonexistent horror, so why and how are we socialized to
think of war as glorious or a necessity?
Video games have socialized us to believe war is a good thing or just a
game. There are many american games based on war that have become part
of our society; a few of these are CSGO, Call of Duty, and TF2. This
integration has become apparent when looking at the most popular games.
This quote from an article by Michael Hitchens about the line between
realistic war simulations and entertainment shows evidence of this.Defeated
enemies surround the hero, the mound of dead bodies evidence of the
savagery of the fight. A description of a scene from the latest first person
shooter? Perhaps. Or just as possibly a description of the carving of Rameses
II at the siege of the Dapur, which can still be seen at his mortuary temple,
the Ramesseum. The use of cutting-edge media in the representation, even
glorification, of war and conflict is almost as old as civilisation itself. It should
be no surprise, then, that depictions of current conflicts can be found in
videogames. It would be a surprise if videogames did not make use of these
events and settings. 2 Overall, war games are fun and challenging. Because
of this, war has become a normal part of people's lives, so they start thinking
in that mindset. Take me as an example. I could never fight in a war, but
sending others to do it seems easy. We as americans are very disconnected
from the wars we fight.
The media has socialized us to support war or support military
patriotism. Think about it, what is the most american sport? Its football, so if
you want to associate something with America, associate it with football.
Football has socialized us to promote war by hosting many events promoting
veterans. All this is broadcasted on live television all over the US. The
1 Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.
2 "War in Video Games - Between Reality and Entertainment."EInternational Relations.
N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.

department of defense (DOD) has been doing this for years; CBS states:
According to a report from Christopher Baxter and Jonathan Salant of
NJ.com, the Department of Defense has paid 14 different NFL teams a total
of $5.4 million over the last four years in exchange for patriotic displays at
games.3 This support of veterans is good, but in the end it makes people
want to support the military and, in turn, support war. The DOD would not
pay $5.4 million as an act of kindness; there is motivation behind it. It seems
obvious the media has socialized us, ever since we were little, to support
war.
This socialization helps the United States. For most actions there has to
be a reason even if the reason is a bad one. The US economy is kept alive by
the americans and the spending of americans. When there's a market crash,
americans aren't spending as much. Prepping for war and having an active
military are two of the ways the United States keeps the economy stable. A
quote from an article by the Business Insider elaborates on the topic: Most
economists believe that massive federal government spending on tanks,
uniforms, bullets, and battleships used in World War II, as well the jobs
created to actually wage the War, finally put to an end the paralyzing
"deflationary trap" that had existed since the Crash of 1929. Many further
argue that war spending succeeded where the much smaller New Deal
programs of the 1930s had fallen short. The numbers were indeed
staggering. From 1940 to 1944, federal spending shot up more than six times
from just $9.5 billion to $72 billion. This increase led to a corresponding $75
billion expansion of US nominal GDP, from $101 billion in 1940 to $175 billion
by 1944. In other words, the war effort caused US GDP to increase close to
75% in just four years!"4 This Is evidence that preparing for war can create
an economic boost. Many economists have considered that a fake third world
war could save the global economy without any casualties. By creating a
fake war with russia. the US could fund the mass production of war materials
like bullets or uniforms. This production would create a huge boost to the
economy. Before anyone was kIlled, we could create a truce. In that time,
advanced technologies would be created for the winning of this war. Many
technologies created in war have been used for industrial uses like the radar,
and the GPS in WW2. All of this resulting in wars benefiting the US.
Like many things, war has latent and manifest functions. The manifest
functions are to gain resources. Latent functions are more interesting, from
stabilizing our economy to creating motives for the invention of new
technology. Through many mediums such as video games and television, all
americans have been affected including myself. We have been at war for
over 200 years, and this socialization may have something to do with it.
3

"US Defense Department Paid 14 NFL Teams $5.4M to Honor Soldiers."CBSSports.com.


N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.

4 Schiff, Peter. "Let's Start A Third World War To Save The Global Economy."Business
Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 20 July 2010. Web. 04 Nov. 2015.

Constantly being at war has helped us, by keeping the US economy stable,
but all at the cost of being socialized to support war.

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