Beginning with the assertion that war is inseparable from the human condition, Victor Hanson proceeds to explain the ways in which the American way of war is distinctive.
I am going to buy the book. The last part of the talk (last 10 minutes) really hit home. I go to Stanford and I am thinking of joining the military after I graduate because I want to be the master of my own world and defend what is good--the Western World.
Ok, this time I find Mr. Hanson's suit fits him much better. 37:20 "...this utopianism has been fatal to our society. It;s the new barbarism where we insist on perfectionism or we're no good." I couldn't agree more.
I really love these interviews, however this one was quite frustrating because Peter Robinson kept interrupting Professor Hanson right before he would make the climatic point to whatever he was saying. So many times mr. Robinson veered the conversation away from those Apex points, and we never got to hear what the poor man was trying to say, which almost certainly would have been even more interesting than anything else that was discussed. Please, for the love of God, if you want to break things off on a tangent, wait for him to finish his point first!
I found this totally on accident and watched it to its end. Absolutely fascinating, thank you Mr. Robinson and Mr. Hanson for doing this film. I learned a great amount, and had some things reinforced, that I'd surmised on my own. I hope that I'm able to watch an other interview or film with Mr. Hanson in it. If I were in a school close, I'd want to have a class with Mr. Hanson. I'm a 47 yr old male, turned down for military service, but would've, if I could've. Do another extending this!
I like how at 39:00 how Robinson thought he was going to school a master of history on Obama, and Hanson smacked him down, albeit as nicely as possible.
But the point is that those civilizations without implements or traditions of violence have been the exception in terms of history. And while Christian leaders have exploited faith in the past (and on smaller scales, in the present) the bloodiest regimes (Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao) were those that, in their own way, left morality behind. Also, Hanson kept decrying war, calling it legalized murder. He's saying that an understanding of war is tragically and inescapably important for survival.
any individual war or conflict is not always unavoidable. But conflict is going to happen. everyone experiences conflict. Every idea is in conflict with every opposing idea. If you can show me a world where people all agree with each other then i will show you a world with no war. I dont see it happening.
Smart guy. If you're not a fan of his politics you should at least be able to respect his dedication to his craft. I think that's the mistake too many people make about their own opponents.
@arzoyan Wonderful sentimrnt how do you get diverse prople to work for the greater good of all. Want a hint , you don't. If you like socialism so much you should study it's massive success throughout the world. CAPITALISM is the best system, not monopoly capitalism, not a plutocracy, competition is not a sin as J Rockefeller said it is, but the life blood of progress.
@wonderwhaz797 no i dont think its obscene to talk about war they way this author doz... its his job his hobby and his life to study the history of war ... of course he likes talking about it and enjoys solving ploblems ............and dont forget just coz u want peace whos gonna tell that to ones that want to take whats yours ........and dont you forget the only reason america is where it is because of war .......do you think the english would left if you said oh no please dont kill us ......
yes did any catch on to what he was saying about gun culture and how that made an impact in the miltary .......and then he says now where a game culture that are used to violent gun shooting games and now u have implemented Drones ...Do you think that maybe the war of the future is just like what the movies are ... kids playing games but shooting real people like for instance an army of drones this would explein the push of violent shooting games in are socitey ....to prepare us for future wars
What if such society is attacked or pushed gradually by a malevolent neighbor? Say if you were living next to Russia, if you are Georgia when the tanks roll in. Would you be thankful of the concrete Western pressure for Russia to not have its way? Would you be thankful of not only the rhetoric of peace but the concrete examples of limited war that has stopped such nations before. I would like to see a pure free market area exist, w/o state or treaty protection. So far I do not see it.
Tpajara is correct. Don't quote geography, it's resources that are lacking in proportion to the population. Merely sustaining is not natural in human development. That's why Gracchi's earliest version of communism in ancient rome was sacked quickly. Everyone could "get by" on one meal (dinner) a day in a miserable existance, but our nature inclines us to breakfast as well, which is where population levels factor.
"War is not something that is somehow required by the human condition." Everyone who wants to subdue someone else, hopes their opponent thinks that way. I'd rather be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.
At about 2:00 the man employs the term 'evangelical' to mean unfounded belief, wishful thinking. This is not what the word actually means. Major fail points in my book.
+ Zack Tyler The word does indeed seem odd in the context, because it's hardly ever used that way, simply because it would be unnecessarily offensive to pious people. Mr. Hanson used "evangelical" (lit. 'of the good message') as juxtaposed to 'empirically' founded, i.e. scientific. While 'evangelical' does not literally mean 'wishful thinking', the good message would not even have come into existence without the latter, let alone lasted, the terms are intrinsically tied. I guess, he was thinking of preachers wanting to impose their wishful thinking, their kludgy dogmas on others, and we've had enough of those lately, but that's another story. 'Unfounded belief', by the way, is a classic example of pleonasm.
slavery used to be part of every society too. Treating children like shit was part of every society too. Subjugating the individual rights of women was once part of every society too.
what a load of crap! he is looking at history which is written by a very narrow sector of the world. much of the history we teach at school is history from a military point of view - history of wars, etc... i'd love to see statistics of how many soldiers today used firearms before they entered the military. i think [no stats] that most of the young people who enter the military today never used guns before.
