Published at FreeVoice, August 1, 2024
Iron and blood may be the grease that enables the gears of history to grind, but only hearts and minds can change ideas and beliefs.
There is a tendency to think that history is made by iron and blood. There is some truth to the claim that the gears of history are lubricated by blood. But the ideology of blood and iron is fundamentally flawed. Critics of violence and war argue that we ought to develop our humanity beyond blood and iron, toward something more spiritual, reasonable, and enlightened. These critics hold that the materialistic logic of iron and blood ought to give way to spirit, reason, and law. . .
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Militarism is a doctrine primarily in service to the blood-swollen god of war. It is indifferent to political ideology and can be employed by revolutionaries and reactionaries, fascists and free marketeers. Pacifists argue that it would be better for social and political reality to develop rationally and without the carnage. The pacifists suggest that human progress must be spiritual instead of sanguinary. Wars do not change hearts and minds; only other hearts and minds can do that. Blood and iron do not change ideas and beliefs. Rather, we need fewer weapons, less bloodshed, better beliefs, and more reasonable ideas.
Read more here: https://shuddhashar.com/beyond-blood-and-iron-pacifism-and-the-blood-swollen-god-of-war/.