Danielle Garcia | Contributing Writer
opinion@fiusm.com
When you’re questioning war – more specifically when a government official questions whether to go to war, do they think about the ethicality of it in the moment of choosing? Is it worth going to war to fight for your country, invade another and bring violence into people’s lives?
When there is civil unrest the quickest thought is to fight back. Yet, bringing justice at the cost of human lives through violence is simply wrong. War deliberately kills innocent individuals, abuses human rights, displaces people, and costs a lot to finance. I believe that there can always be an alternative method to handling situations but one may give you less advantage than the other; war will procure more of an advantage than acting benignly.
War is necessary but it’s never ethical, it never will be. Violence should never be the answer, and I know I am contradicting myself but it depends on the situation and which side you’re facing.
A group of citizens could rebel against an unjust government. Public demonstrations can quickly turn into violent acts to call upon the government and seek global attention for help. Would that justify war? Is it ethical? The answer is no, however, it does achieve a certain level of progress where the end justify the means. Even when a country lacks a functioning government and its citizens go to war against it, it is effective in the end. The country will slowly pick itself back up again and endure through time as a stronger and richer society.
An article on the Washington Post by a Stanford professor, Ian Morris adds “Since 1914, we have endured world wars, genocides and government-sponsored famines, not to mention civil strife, riots and murders. Altogether, we have killed a staggering 100 million to 200 million of our own kind. But over the century, about 10 billion lives were lived — which means that just 1 to 2 percent of the world’s population died violently.”
If you think about it, the long terms effects of war create a stronger and prosperous civilization. Humanity keeps going, the means taken through war are necessary. Discussing the rights and wrongs of war will never give an easy answer. Wars are not always officially declared they just happen nowadays. Societies are in constant war and conflicts are tentatively solved. Although never good, war is unfortunately necessary. If the ends could not justify the means and we were ethical all the time by attempting to solve without force most nations would not be where they are now.
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