(quote) An obvious question arises: why would these cheering young men race to sign up for a 'glorious adventure' that was so clearly not in their own self-interests? Even if they couldn't always imagine the full scale of the inferno to come, war clearly meant they would be torn from homes, jobs, loved ones, families and friends; that they would have to violently kill and be killed.
Tolstoy, who had also experienced the grim reality of war first-hand, explained this 'enthusiasm' for war with typical honesty: 'From infancy, by every possible means - class books, church services, sermons, speeches, books, papers, songs, poetry, monuments - the people is stupefied in one direction' - militant patriotism. (Tolstoy, 'Writings On Civil Disobedience and Non-Violence,' New Society, 1987, p.95)
The 'enthusiasm', then, is crudely manufactured in a way that hides the reality: 'before they look round, there will be no more admirals, presidents, or flags, or music; but only a damp and empty field of battle, cold, hunger, and pain; before them a murderous enemy; behind, relentless officers preventing their escape; blood, wounds, putrefying bodies, and senseless, unnecessary death'. (/quote) -- https://www.medialens.org/2021/our-indifference-to-ourselves-beyond-the-virtue-of-self-sacrifice-part-1/
thanks sashimi but not this one. Was definitely a number of points of discussion
Long before 'the propaganda model' flew off Edward Herman's keyboard and into 'Manufacturing Consent', the book he co-authored with Noam Chomsky, Leo Tolstoy had captured the essence of non-conspiratorial conformity: 'One man does not assert the truth which he knows, because he feels himself bound to the people with whom he is engaged; another, because the truth might deprive him of the profitable position by which he maintains his family; a third, because he desires to attain reputation and authority, and then use them in the service of mankind; a fourth, because he does not wish to destroy old sacred traditions; a fifth, because he has no desire to offend people; a sixth, because the expression of the truth would arouse persecution, and disturb the excellent social activity to which he has devoted himself.' (Tolstoy, 'What Then Must We Do?', Green Classics, 1991, p.118) -- https://www.medialens.org/2021/shocking-omissions-capitalisms-conscience-200-years-of-the-guardian-john-pilger-and-jonathan-cook-respond/
I think that's it. I thought they were laid out in numbered points but it does look
on May 28, 2023, 8:43 am