Ken Reich

I think it is a waste of time to consider whether humans are genetically predisposed to war; it’s academic. I also think it is a waste of time to consider the reasons we go to war in a macro sense. Those reasons are always distorted by winners and losers are subject to such nuance that it is the equivalent of picking fly s—t out of pepper.
But I think the behavior that leads to war is learned and if it is learned, it can be unlearned. Only who and how can we in our mass culture teach us to unlearn it? I don’t think people ever go to war as an expression of Power but always as an expression of powerlessness. They act as a group to relieve a sense of powerlessness that has nothing to do with moral or ethical considerations or even right and wrong. After all, the winners always consider themselves to right.
We need to ask ourselves if we can shed our need for tribes and racial and cultural identity. If we can’t do that, asking the question, “is war inevitable?” is moot.