elt@astrovax.UUCP (Ed Turner) (12/01/83)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hypothesis 1: War will result from the devotion of large resources to the preparation for war during peace time. "Preparation" is here taken to include physical (weapons systems), organizational (military establishments, plans, etc.), and political (alliances, aggressive foreign policies, etc.). Historical Demonstration: World War I among others (There are some frightening parallels between the pre-WWI situation in Europe and the current world situation). Lesson: A sufficiently elaborate and delicately poised war apparatus will eventually be triggered by miscalculation, accident, madness, etc. Hypothesis 2: War will result from refusing to make preparations (as defined above) for war and from generally conducting oneself in a very pacifistic way. Historical Demonstration: World War II among others (There are some frightening parallels between the pre-WWII policies of some European nations and those advocated by the major critics of the current policies of the West.) Lesson: Giving ones adversaries the impression that one is extremely reluctant or entirely unwilling to fight invites a disastrous miscalculation on their part. Conclusion: Murphy wins. When there is the potential for war (i.e., societies with conflicting interests and goals), there is probably no very effective way of avoiding the possibility (or even probability) of war, even though it may be in no ones real interest to fight. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- These gloomy thoughts are intended for both the hawks and doves in net land who feel *sure* they can see the path of wisdom and the folly of those with opposing viewpoints. Ed Turner astrovax!elt
cas@cvl.UUCP (Cliff Shaffer) (12/02/83)
> Conclusion: > Murphy wins. When there is the potential for war (i.e., societies with > conflicting interests and goals), there is probably no very effective way of > avoiding the possibility (or even probability) of war, even though it may be > in no ones real interest to fight. I agree. This is exactly what I meant when I said that the nuclear weapons are an effect of our problems, not a cause. Clearly we are in competition with the Soviet Union. I think this is because of a scarcity of resources. Resources are scare (by definition) because there is not enough to go around. There is not enough to go around because there are too many people. Hence my conclusion that we should be trying to solve (and in this group discuss solutions to) the population problem rather than the nuclear weapons problem. Cliff Shaffer {we13,mcnc,seismo}!rlgvax!cvl!cas