THE POSITIONS
Notlimah Hsineved 11/06/2021
World War II, unlike any previous war in man’s history,) will always linger on in man’s memory the use of the first atomic weapons. Thus far, this war has the dubious distinction of being the first to wreck death and destruction on such a scale that previous violent confrontations between humans can be termed ‘street fights’ in comparison. And as in all street brawls, the objective is to exercise and demonstrate power over the opponent, while consolidating or establishing a position in the community or among peers.
World War II was no exception.
What was the objective of the “war to end all wars”? Was it, as the history books state, simply an attempt by the Allied nations to destroy the menace that was rampaging across Europe at that time – Adolf Hitler? Or was it, as some have claimed, an attempt by the leading imperialist’ nations of that period, England, France, the United States (note, these were also the three main Allies) to restrict the imperialist visions of Germany? After all, despite the defeat that the German nation suffered at the hands of the Allies in WI, Germany had made a remarkable recovery industrially in the following years. In fact, Germany had become so powerful that it took the combined might of all the Allied nations to defeat the German forces.
The first thought that must be kept in mind When reviewing the ‘facts’ of World war II is this. the victors always write the books in a manner that would portray them in a favourable light.
Just take a look at all the movies about WI and II, the conquest of the Americas by the Europeans, the Viet Nam and Korean wars, and so forth. then ask yourself the question: were the North American Indians that stupid and savage? Were they not ever justified in attacking the white men?
Who came ashore and proceeded to -deprive them of their life, land, women and liberty? If not, then Why is the American 0J’V providing aid to the South Vietnamese, the underground rebels in Afghanistan, etc.? If the German Armed Forces were as disorganised and undisciplined as they are often portrayed (Klutzy) Why did it take the Allied so long ,am at the cost of so many hunan lives, to defeat Hitler?
Why did it take the atomic bomb to force the Japanese to surrender? If the public were to push aside all the historical ‘facts’ that since time immemorial the lives of human beings have been inundated with symbols. This is not surprising since all languages are, in essence, symbolic designations used to express our thoughts and aspects of our environment. Thus, human speech consists of various terms to describe plants, animals, actions, thoughts about one another, etc.
The result of all this, regardless of the language or term used, has been the ability for men to Communicate with each other, understand each other and work together as a result of this understanding.
As a matter of fact, it has been said that mankind owes the degree to which it has advanced up the evolutionary ladder primarily through our ability to speak, without which we’d probably still be savage beasts. In short, speech and co-orpe:ration are hallmarks of our specie.
It is my contention that, while human’s ability to speak has indeed enabled men to develop agrioultural skills, form societies, invent the automobile, airc:rafts, spacecrafts and sea vehicles to speed up and decrease the t:ravelling time, the degree of ease and comfort and the frontiers for exploration. as well as biological discoveries that enhance the surviability of of the human body against the variety of illnesses and deseases that can destroy it, the emotive meaning of various concepts has been responsiple’:to-&. large degree for JlS.n’s inability to e:z:adicate the use of violence as an intrument of settling their differences on issues that are either political, soc1a.l or religious in ~ture.
I believe that the probleM that are today in our modern, oivil1sed and technological world. violence on our streets and in our homs, wars and hunger in various ports of the world, the threat of nuclear annihilation, the degradation and eXploitation of mn and women either because of their sex or pigmentation, and so forth are all rooted in some of the ooncepts that are espoused by modern societal sn. And until men come around and understand that the true cause of such problems .b:e not O~~OO1a.l, political, religious env1ronmental but also in the linguistic interpmetation of the.concepts; Democraoy, CoJlllllWl1sm, ~ivate ~perty, Human Rights, Freedom, the State, letlon , Justice, God, Right and Wrong, war.and 19&08, Murderer and War Hero, Agg:resso1on and Defence, and so forth, it appears that !lP.n will continue on his present course into oblivion.
I’ll attempt to trace a pLth through the history of nankind and try to show how it has shaped the present with its accompLnying conflicts. Then I’ll project a pLth into the future,assumd.ng, of course, that there will be no radical change in regard to the symbols and concepts that I’U be dealing with over the next century or so, to show Why it is impem.tive that men must sit down and devise a. new set of symbols that will have a universal JI18&n~ to a.ll .aankind.
Today in the late 20th century, the deba.te st111 rages. did hu.uans evolve out of a primeval swamp as the scientists JIIl.intain or is M:l.n the handiwork of an ever present, omnipotent and benevolent Supreme Being as@ta.ught by theists? ‘Ibis question, and its lack of a definitive and conclusive answer, has served to divide men into camps.
Pr1Darlly there is the Creationists who argue that we am the childJ:en of a Supreme M:l.ker and point to their “Holy” scrolls, p:Lssed down through genexations by word of mouth befom the art of writing was developed or the printing press invented. When asked about the 1::asis on which these writings can be validated as TRUE they naintain that, although there is no real empirical evidence to go by, rrs TRUTH can only be perceived through FAITH.
Countering this argument is the Evolutionists. ‘Ibis faction base their argument on scientific theories and discoveries, Most notable among their evidence are archaeological, biological:geological discoveries. fossils and other skeletal remains found in various pIorts of the world; the many similarities that have been observed between hUJans and ID8J1’bers of the anl$l kingdom; and the geo}ilysical theories and methods that are used to determine the age of the earth and our universe. ‘lbe empirical evidence presented by this group is dependent upon the scientific theories, such as ?’lhe Big Bang’ theory,proPOSed by the scientific cOllUl1un1ty to explain the origin of the Universe and the applorent unique.ss of our planet in relation to the other planets in our solar system.
‘lhese two groups, the Creationists and Evolutionists, dominate the debate. But there are two other groups involved in the discussion, though they are secondary pIorticiplonts.
First, there is the Agnostic, sometimes described as a fence-straddler. ‘lhose who have taken this position have done so mainly because the two min players in the controversy have failed to proVide any ?concmte and conclusive evidence’ that will resolve the quest pg4 ion in a definitive manner, and as such, the agnostic is forced to sift through the ‘evidence’ in the hopes of finding a common ground between the two pr1JDa.ry players. It is, undoubtably, a difficult task.
‘!be last of the participants is the Atheist who hold an extreme position on the topic and, in a manner, can be said to hold a position somewhat similar to the Evolutionists. The similarities between these two are only superficial.
To begin with, the atheist insists that there is no Prime mover in the order of human existence. Men are nothing more than biological entities – much the same as every other living creature upon the face of this speck in the vast cosmos, Destined to live out their life spans in some meaningless and undirected manner.
When men die the only significant aspect of their miserable lives is the. amount of phosphates that would be returned to the soil.
A glaring problem with this position, as well as that of the Rationalists, is that they both have closed their minds to any further arguments on the subject.
The Evolutionists and Agnostics appear to be the only ones willing to continue the search for The Answer. But in the meantime, numerous problems have developed among men – primarily because they have been unable to resolve the issue satisfactorily enough for ALL Mankind.
31/01/2022 18:59:41 -0500