Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 12:07:52 +0930
Subject: Re: War, Death and History


Mark,
This list and a couple of others are periodically hit by waves of this 
crap.  My advice is to delete it unread.
David

Mark Kelly wrote:

> What is all the Koenigsberg stuff? Academic spam?
>
> >From: "Orion Anderson" 
> <libraryofsocialscience-AT-earthlink.net>
> >Reply-To: foucault-AT-lists.village.Virginia.EDU
> >To: <foucault-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
> >Subject: War, Death and History
> >Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 11:48:38 -0400
> >
> >War, Death and History
> >
> >
> >In the First World War, human beings were proud of the endless 
> rows of white
> >crosses that memorialized the dead soldiers even as the war was being
> >fought. They didn't realize that the war was fought in order to 
> create the
> >crosses. Nations exist because memorials testify to the fact that 
> people
> >have died in their name.
> >
> >Soldiers in World War did what they were asked to do: They got out of
> >trenches and ran into artillery shells and machine-gun fire. 
> However, the
> >cause of the killing and dying was obscure; the source was murky. 
> Wars
> >happen. When wars happen, soldiers die.
> >
> >Today, we are not unaware of the relationship between human 
> agency, war and
> >the death of the soldier. We know that wars are the result of 
> choices that
> >people make. Since we know that we have chosen war--that we are 
> the cause of
> >the soldier's death--we're not so proud of memorials. We no longer 
> flaunt
> >them. In fact, we sometimes hide them. We don't want to be 
> excessively
> >conscious of the results of our choices.
> >
> >   _____
> >
> >Richard Koenigsberg's writings have revolutionized our 
> understanding of the
> >sources of societal violence. To read his papers (listed below) on 
> war,
> >genocide and civilizational self-destruction,
> >
> >PLEASE
> ><http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=bis8g6n6.0.0.85y8w8n6.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthli 
>
> >nk.net%2F%7Elibraryofsocialscience%2F> CLICK HERE or visit:
> >
> >http://home.earthlink.net/~libraryofsocialscience/
> ><http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=bis8g6n6.0.0.85y8w8n6.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthli 
>
> >nk.net%2F%7Elibraryofsocialscience>
> >
> >
> >*    AS THE SOLDIER DIES, SO DOES THE NATION COME ALIVE: The 
> Sacrificial
> >Meaning of Warfare
> >
> >*    DYING FOR ONE'S COUNTRY: The Logic of War and Genocide
> >
> >*    THE LOGIC OF THE HOLOCAUST: Why the Nazi's Killed the Jews
> >
> >*    THE SACRIFICIAL MEANING OF THE HOLOCAUST
> >
> >*    AZTEC WARFARE, WESTERN WARFARE: The Soldier as Sacrificial 
> Victim
> >
> >
> >
> >   _____
> >
> >Yet we do want to know that the soldier has died--for our cause. 
> In war, the
> >soldier dies for all of us. National glory derives from the 
> willingness of
> >the soldier to give his life. If soldiers did not accede to give 
> their
> >lives, there could be no national glory. Without national glory, 
> there would
> >be no history.
> >
> >The death of the soldier sustains the fantasy. Soldiers die so 
> that we can
> >read about leaders and wars in history books. The greater the 
> number of
> >deaths, the more significant the historical event. Wars are 
> undertaken in
> >order to remind us of our sacred ideals. Death in war testifies to 
> the
> >reality of the ideal. Wars occur in order to be remembered--so 
> that leaders
> >and nations can make history.
> >
> >People feel better when there is terrorism and war. War reassures 
> us that
> >life is meaningful. Triviality and frivolity are replaced by 
> significance
> >and solemnity. In order for history to continue, wars are created. 
> As long
> >as wars occur, there can be no "end of history." 
> Narratives become grand
> >again: The world has returned to normalcy.
> >
> >Once again, there seems to be a center. When there is a center, it is
> >difficult to be "multi." The center is where death 
> occurs and is located in
> >the minds of those who cause death. The center is the sacred ideal 
> that is
> >the cause and justification for killing. If they can die for their 
> ideals,
> >we can die for ours. Without sacred ideals, there is only Michael 
> Jackson.
> >
> >War is full of sound and fury, a tale told by an idiot. Unless you 
> are in
> >the path of a bomb or bullet--then it's really real. Death and body
> >mutilation are the basis of war and source of history. Bombs 
> create "earth
> >shattering" events. We create history in order to forget that 
> our frail
> >bodies are in the process of disintegrating.
> >
> >
> >   _____
> >
> >E-mail: libraryofsocialscience-AT-earthlink.net
> >Phone: 718-393-1081
> >Web: http://home.earthlink.net/~libraryofsocialscience/
> ><http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=bis8g6n6.0.0.85y8w8n6.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.earthli 
>
> >nk.net%2F%7Elibraryofsocialscience%2F>
> >
> >
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