{"id":209560,"date":"2022-04-18T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=209560"},"modified":"2022-04-18T09:07:44","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T08:07:44","slug":"einstein-and-freuds-why-war-revisited-why-anti-war-efforts-go-nowhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/04\/einstein-and-freuds-why-war-revisited-why-anti-war-efforts-go-nowhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Einstein and Freud\u2019s \u2018Why War?\u2019 Revisited: Why Anti-War Efforts Go Nowhere"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1932, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein exchanged letters, later published under the title \u2018Why War?\u2019 See \u2018Why War? An exchange of letters between Freud and Einstein\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, whatever insight these two giants of an earlier era brought to our understanding of war, the reality is that a great deal has been learned since they corresponded.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, since the emergence of an identifiable, organized anti-war movement during World War I which has grown to include a diverse range of activists and organizations from across the political spectrum, as well as peace and conflict resolution scholars from various disciplines, there is little evidence that this movement, or any of the many organizations within it, has been learning from its failures by systematically undertaking or commissioning further research to understand the phenomenon of war more completely and then devising a strategy to end it based on that learning.<\/p>\n

Hence, during its existence for more than 100 years, the organized anti-war movement \u2013 and the subsequently developed peace movement with its broader agenda \u2013 has had minimal impact in preventing or halting particular military conflicts, including wars, and zero impact in ending war generally, as the record testifies.<\/p>\n

And so, even today, war continues in several countries in West Asia (the Middle East), Africa, elsewhere and, more recently, in Ukraine with the antiwar movement again demonstrating its ineffectiveness and, in the case of Ukraine, failing to comprehend the deeper agenda behind what is taking place in that country. See \u2018The War in Ukraine: Understanding and Resisting the Global Elite\u2019s Deeper Agenda\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, while an utterly inadequate analysis of what, fundamentally, is driving war is the critical foundation of the anti-war movement\u2019s problems, it is still just one of the substantial range of problems it faces, some of which derive from this flawed analysis but others which a better analysis would expose. These include, for example, an understanding of why the fear of most of those within the anti-war movement is preventing the movement from mustering the commitment and courage that will be necessary if we are to undertake the many actions necessary to end war. In essence, fear makes most participants in the movement happy to complain about war but not take action themselves (or take action that has zero or minimal impact).<\/p>\n

As Daniel Berrigan noted in his 1969 book No Bars to Manhood<\/em><\/a>: \u2018the waging of war, by its nature, is total \u2013 but the waging of peace, by our own cowardice, is partial.\u2019<\/p>\n

This cowardice means that a large proportion of the anti-war movement contents itself with a range of powerless measures \u2013 usually extending no further than signing petitions, issuing lameduck ideologically-oriented statements, writing articles, organizing conferences, issuing calls for negotiations or appeals to politicians \u2013 all invariably devoid of emotional and geopolitical reality as well as realistic measures to avert\/halt the latest war.<\/p>\n

This might include advocacy of measures, such as those developed under the guise of international humanitarian law, in relation to \u2018outlawing war\u2019 or outlawing particular weapons systems, despite the obvious observation that these legal constraints are routinely violated with impunity by any military power, starting with the United States, or non-state actor that is unconstrained by questions of legality.<\/p>\n

Beyond this, \u2018action\u2019, when it is taken, is usually confined to conducting (notoriously ineffective) street protests or employing other tactics devoid of strategic impact in the context (of ending war). As former US Secretary of State Alexander Haig once noted about a massive anti-war demonstration: \u2018Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes.\u2019 See Alexander Haig<\/a>. As a four-star general, Haig, not regarded as the most intelligent Secretary of State in US history, certainly understood that tactical choice is a question of strategy. Most activists have no idea.<\/p>\n

So if we are to end war as a phenomenon in human affairs, or even meaningfully attempt to prevent or end a particular war, we need to do a number of things. Most fundamentally, we must start with a sound understanding of what causes violence to begin with because war does not emerge from a vacuum. War, when all is considered, is just another manifestation of violence, like everything from violence against women to economic exploitation to environmental destruction.<\/p>\n

And if we are not able or willing to investigate and understand what is causing violence, and address this fundamental cause as part of our strategy, then our other efforts to end the manifestations of violence, including war, must all be in vain. Again, as the record readily testifies.<\/p>\n

What Causes Violence?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So what is the cause of violence? Here is what 41 years (1966-2007) of concerted effort taught me.<\/p>\n

Perpetrators of violence learn their craft in childhood. If you inflict violence on a child, they learn to inflict violence on others. The political leaders who decide to wage war, the military leaders who plan and conduct it, as well as the soldiers, sailors and aircraft personnel who fight war each suffered violence as a child. The terrorist suffered violence as a child. The neo-Nazi suffered violence as a child. The individual who inflicts violence on his (or her) partner suffered violence as a child. The corporate executive who exploits working class people and\/or those who live in Africa, Asia or Central\/South America suffered violence as a child. The racist or religious bigot suffered violence as a child. The individual who perpetrates violence in the home, in the schoolyard or on the street suffered violence as a child. The individual who overconsumes, or even consumes certain products and\/or otherwise destroys the biosphere, suffered violence as a child.<\/p>\n

So let me illustrate this point, in a very simplified way, by briefly explaining the parenting experience of a neo-Nazi. This individual has been terrorized by their parents and\/or other significant adults in their life into projecting their fear onto particular groups of human beings and into believing that violence is a morally correct and superior way of dealing with these \u2018different\u2019 people. But for a much fuller and more nuanced explanation of this point, see the sections headed \u2018The Emotional Profile of Archetype Perpetrators of Violence\u2019 and \u2018The Spectrum of the Violent Personality\u2019 in \u2018Why Violence?\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

If we want to end violence in all of its manifestations, structural and otherwise, locally and globally, then we must finally end our longest and greatest war: the adult war on children. And here is an additional incentive: if we do not tackle the fundamental cause of violence, then our combined and unrelenting efforts to tackle all of its other symptoms must ultimately fail. And extinction at our own hand \u2013 by nuclear war or other means \u2013 is inevitable.<\/p>\n

How can I claim that violence against children is the fundamental cause of all other violence? Consider this. There is universal acceptance that behaviour is shaped by childhood experience. If it was not, we would not put such effort into education and other efforts to \u2018socialize\u2019 children to \u2018fit into\u2019 their society. And this is why many psychologists have argued that exposure to war toys and violent video games shapes attitudes and behaviours in relation to violence.<\/p>\n

But it is far more complex than this and, strange though it may seem, it is not just the \u2018visible\u2019 violence (such as hitting, screaming at and sexually abusing) that we normally label \u2018violence\u2019 that causes the main damage, although this is extremely damaging. The largest component of damage arises from the \u2018invisible\u2019 and \u2018utterly invisible\u2019 violence that we adults unconsciously inflict on children during the ordinary course of the day. Tragically, the bulk of this violence occurs in the family home and at school. See \u2018Why Violence?\u2019<\/a> and \u2018Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So what is \u2018invisible\u2019 violence? It is the \u2018little things\u2019 we do every day, partly because we are just \u2018too busy\u2019. For example, when we do not allow time to listen to, and value, a child\u2019s thoughts and feelings, the child learns to not listen to themSelf thus destroying their internal communication system. When we do not let a child say what they want (or ignore them when they do), the child develops communication and behavioral dysfunctionalities as they keep trying to meet their own needs (which, as a basic survival strategy, they are genetically programmed to do).<\/p>\n

When we blame, condemn, insult, mock, embarrass, shame, humiliate, taunt, goad, guilt-trip, deceive, lie to, bribe, blackmail, moralize with and\/or judge a child, we both undermine their sense of Self-worth and teach them to blame, condemn, insult, mock, embarrass, shame, humiliate, taunt, goad, guilt-trip, deceive, lie, bribe, blackmail, moralize and\/or judge.<\/p>\n

The fundamental outcome of being bombarded throughout their childhood by this \u2018invisible\u2019 violence is that the child is utterly overwhelmed by feelings of fear, pain, anger and sadness (among many others). However, mothers, fathers, teachers, religious figures and other adults also actively interfere with the expression of these feelings and the behavioral responses that are naturally generated by them and it is this \u2018utterly invisible\u2019 violence that explains why the dysfunctional behavioral outcomes actually occur.<\/p>\n

For example, by ignoring a child when they express their feelings, by comforting, reassuring or distracting a child when they express their feelings, by laughing at or ridiculing their feelings, by terrorizing a child into not expressing their feelings (for example, by screaming at them when they cry or get angry), and\/or by violently controlling a behavior that is generated by their feelings (for example, by hitting them, restraining them or locking them into a room), the child has no choice but to unconsciously suppress their awareness of these feelings.<\/p>\n

However, once a child has been terrorized into suppressing their awareness of their feelings (rather than being allowed to have their feelings and to act on them) the child has also unconsciously suppressed their awareness of the reality that caused these feelings. This has many outcomes that are disastrous for the individual, for society and for nature because the individual will now easily suppress their awareness of the feelings that would tell them how to act most functionally in any given circumstance and they will progressively acquire a phenomenal variety of dysfunctional behaviors, including some that are violent towards themself, others and\/or the Earth.<\/p>\n

From the above, it should also now be apparent that punishment should never be used. \u2018Punishment\u2019, of course, is simply one of the words we use to obscure our awareness of the fact that we are using violence. Violence, even when we label it \u2018punishment\u2019, scares children and adults alike and cannot elicit a functional behavioural response. See \u2018Punishment is Violent and Counterproductive\u2019<\/a> and \u2018The Rule of Law: Unjust and Violent\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If someone behaves dysfunctionally, they need to be listened to, deeply, so that they can start to become consciously aware of the feelings (which will always include fear and, often, terror) that drove the dysfunctional behaviour in the first place. They then need to feel and express these feelings (including any anger) in a safe way. Only then will behavioural change in the direction of functionality be possible. See \u2018Nisteling: The Art of Deep Listening\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018But these adult behaviors you have described don\u2019t seem that bad. Can the outcome be as disastrous as you claim?\u2019 you might ask. The problem is that there are hundreds of these \u2018ordinary\u2019, everyday behaviors that destroy the Selfhood of the child. It is \u2018death by a thousand cuts\u2019 and most children simply do not survive as Self-aware individuals. And why do we do this? As mentioned above, we do it so that each child will fit into our model of \u2018the perfect citizen\u2019: that is, obedient and hardworking student, reliable and pliant employee\/soldier, and submissive law-abiding citizen (that is, one who pays their taxes, including those for war, and votes and\/or lobbies politicians rather than acting powerfully themSelf).<\/p>\n

The bottom line is simple: As parents, teachers, religious figures and adults generally, we want the child to be obedient to our commands, and not powerfully able to act in accord with their own Self-will. And we achieve this outcome by terrorizing the child into doing what we want rather than nurturing the child\u2019s innate capacity to listen, deeply, to themSelf in order to follow their own will.<\/p>\n

Moreover, once we destroy the Selfhood of a child, it has many flow-on effects. For example, once you terrorize a child into accepting certain information about themSelf, other people and the state of the world \u2013 with the bulk of this information mediated by elite agents including education systems, the entertainment industry and the corporate media \u2013 the child becomes unconsciously fearful of dealing with new information, especially if this information is contradictory to what they have been terrorized into believing. As a result, the child will unconsciously dismiss new information, no matter how truthful, out of hand.<\/p>\n

In short, the child has been terrorized in such a way that they are no longer capable of learning (or their learning capacity is seriously diminished by excluding any information that is not a simple extension of what they already \u2018know\u2019). If you imagine any of the bigots you know, you are imagining someone who is utterly terrified. But it\u2019s not just the bigots; virtually all people are affected in this manner making them incapable of responding adequately to new (or even important) information. This is one explanation why some people are \u2018climate deniers\u2019, most people do nothing in response to the climate catastrophe and even those people who do take action usually do so ineffectively. See \u2018The Global Climate Movement is Failing: Why?\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

But the same can be said for those working to end war \u2013 see \u2018The War to End War 100 Years On: An Evaluation and Reorientation of our Resistance to War\u2019<\/a> \u2013 end the nuclear weapons race or engage in other struggles, including liberation struggles, that are vital parts of the global struggle to create a more peaceful, just and sustainable human culture. See \u2018Why Activists Fail\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And to briefly put this issue in the current global context, the vast bulk of the human population, including most of those individuals whom society would regard as \u2018highly intelligent\u2019, has been readily terrorized into believing that they are threatened by a pathogenic virus (labeled \u2018SARS-CoV-2\u2019) when there is no documented, scientific proof that such an entity as a pathogenic virus even exists \u2013 see \u2018Dismantling the Virus Theory \u2013 The \u201cmeasles virus\u201d as an example\u2019<\/a> and What Really Makes You Ill? Why everything you thought you knew about disease is wrong<\/em><\/a> \u2013 and certainly no documented scientific proof that a virus labeled SARS-CoV-2 exists. See \u2018COVID-19: The virus does not exist \u2013 it is confirmed!\u2019<\/a> and \u2018Statement On Virus Isolation (SOVI)\u2019<\/a>. And for an account of researcher Christine Massey\u2019s fruitless search over the course of more than a year to find evidence of an isolated virus, via Freedom of Information requests to health\/science institutions all over the world, see \u20181<\/a>77<\/a> health\/science institutions globally all failed to cite even 1 record of \u201cSARS-COV-2\u201d purification, by anyone, anywhere, ever\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the vast bulk of the human population has been terrorized into accepting a series of medical intrusions (including lockdowns, PCR tests, mask-wearing and gene-altering injectables) when, in fact, there is no documented, scientific proof that (assuming there was a \u2018pathogenic virus\u2019) lockdowns, PCR tests, mask-wearing or \u2018vaccines\u2019 even \u2018work\u2019 and\/or extensive documentation of their harm. See, for example, \u2018And How Are the Children? Lockdowns, Massive Fear, Deaths from Suicides and Drug Abuse\u2019<\/a>, \u2018<\/a>The WHO Confirms that the Covid-19 PCR Test is Flawed: Estimates of \u201cPositive Cases\u201d are Meaningless. The Lockdown Has No Scientific Basis\u2019<\/a>, \u2018Conclusion Regarding Masks: They Do Not Work\u2019<\/a>, \u2018Masks \u201cdon\u2019t work,\u201d are damaging health and are being used to control population: Doctors panel\u2019<\/a>, \u2018The Truth about the Covid-19 Vaccine\u2019<\/a>, \u2018<\/a>A Final Warning to Humanity<\/a>\u2019<\/a>, \u2018COVID Shots to \u201cDecimate World Population,\u201d Warns Dr. Bhakdi\u2019<\/a> and \u201820 Facts about Vaccination Your Doctor Forgot To Tell You\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And because the fear generated by the elite-driven \u2018virus\u2019\/injectable narrative has been so debilitating and thus engendered a high level of obedience by the population at large, it is a rare individual who has investigated both the shortcomings in this narrative and the horrific agenda that this narrative is concealing, let alone identified a powerful strategy to resist it. See \u2018We Are Human, We Are Free\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, to return to the focus of this article, let me briefly reiterate this vital point: The essence of what human beings call \u2018socialization\u2019 is the process by which each child is terrorized in such a way that they are no longer capable of learning or their learning capacity is seriously diminished.<\/em><\/strong> The multifaceted violence inflicted throughout childhood and adolescence ensures that the adult who emerges is suppressing awareness of an enormous amount of fear, pain, sadness and anger (among many other feelings) and must live in delusion to remain unaware of these suppressed feelings. This ensures that, as part of their delusion, the individual develops a strong sense that what they are doing already is functional and working (no matter how dysfunctional and ineffective it may actually be) while not investigating the existence of evidence that might contradict their delusion and\/or unconsciously suppressing awareness of any evidence they come across that does contradict it. They do this because, unconsciously, people learn to identify obedience with \u2018functional and working\u2019 (because they do not get punished for being obedient).<\/strong> See \u2018Why Violence?\u2019<\/a>, \u2018Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice\u2019<\/a>, \u2018Do We Want School or Education?\u2019<\/a>, \u2018Love Denied: The Psychology of Materialism, Violence and War\u2019<\/a> and \u2018Human Intelligence or Human Awareness?\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Just one critically important outcome of this terrorization process is that a significant proportion of the human population is effectively insane, and this certainly includes the Global Elite and those primary elite agents on which it relies to generate and maintain wars. See \u2018The Global Elite is Insane Revisited\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another critically important outcome of this terrorization process is that the international conflict resolution architecture \u2013 which is essentially a legal framework \u2013 does not take emotional factors into account. Hence it is not capable of resolving conflicts in any meaningful way. This is why negotiations often go nowhere, particularly in a timeframe that would avert adverse outcomes. And why \u2018agreements\u2019 that are reached are utterly superficial. The fundamental drivers of the conflict \u2013 invariably including suppressed terror, self-hatred and anger which are often unconsciously projected at the other party \u2013 are never addressed and will continue to manifest as violence in various forms, even if military violence is ended in a particular context. See \u2018Challenges for Resolving Complex Conflicts\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So if we want a powerfully effective anti-war movement (or peace movement, environmental movement, social justice movement\u2026.) then we need Self-aware individuals who can think, plan and act powerfully as part of strategically-oriented organizations to achieve ambitious longer-term goals. Such as ending the institution of war.<\/p>\n

Anything less will fail. Again, as the record demonstrates.<\/p>\n

So What Can We Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ending war is possible. But it will take a courageous, sophisticated, strategic effort, given how deeply violence is embedded into the human \u2018socialization\u2019 process which makes war just one of the many approved violent behaviours in which adults are expected and encouraged to participate, beginning with paying taxes to finance it.<\/p>\n

So while it is possible to end war, this won\u2019t be happening any time soon.<\/p>\n

And it can\u2019t happen until we commit ourselves to eliminating violence against children so that human society creates adults who are psychologically whole and powerfully able to participate in conflict without resorting to violence to \u2018resolve\u2019 it.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, in parallel with efforts to eliminate violence against children, those powerful enough can also participate in a comprehensive strategy to end war as explained on the \u2018Nonviolent Strategy\u2019 website, starting with this list of \u2018Strategic Goals to End War\u2019<\/a>. This is extrapolated from a book which explained why a strategy of nonviolent defense, understood and implemented by sufficient committed and organized individuals, is strategically superior to any military strategy. See The Strategy of Nonviolent Defense: A Gandhian Approach<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or, if you want to participate in a strategy to end a particular war, such as that in Ukraine, particularly given the possibility of it morphing into a longer term insurgency \u2013 see \u2018Ukraine And The New Al Qaeda\u2019<\/a> \u2013 you can read how to do so here: Nonviolent Defense\/Liberation Strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But, as explained above, precisely because of their socialization experience during childhood, most of those who would identify as \u2018anti-war\u2019 are simply too frightened to act powerfully in resisting it. Hence, war will continue until we address its root cause: violence against children.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Robert Burrowes, Ph.D. is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a> and has a lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an effort to understand why human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He is the author of <\/em>Why Violence?<\/a> Websites:<\/strong> (<\/em>We Are Human, We Are Free<\/a>) (Charter<\/a>)\u00a0 (Flame Tree Project<\/a>)\u00a0 (Songs of Nonviolence<\/a>) (<\/em>Nonviolent Campaign Strategy<\/em><\/a>) (Nonviolent Defense\/Liberation Strategy<\/em><\/a>) (<\/em>Robert J. Burrowes<\/a><\/em>) (<\/em>Feelings First<\/em><\/a>)\u00a0Email: flametree@riseup.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1932, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein exchanged letters, later published under the title \u2018Why War?\u2019 However, whatever insight these two giants of an earlier era brought to our understanding of war, the reality is that a great deal has been learned since they corresponded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":49131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[2009,121,1438,118],"class_list":["post-209560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-anti-war","tag-einstein","tag-sigmund-freud","tag-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}