I went to the library today to do some reading for class, and ended up reading a book I noticed on the shelf, If I Die in a Combat Zone (Box Me Up and Ship Me Home), instead. It's incredible so far. Incredibly sad, touching, and thought-provoking.
The author is a Vietnam veteran who was drafted, and completed a tour in Vietnam, while being deeply opposed to the war throughout his experience. He talks a lot about cowardice and honor. How people look at each the wrong way. Is refusing to fight in a war you don't believe in cowardly? Courage is not simply running headlong towards the enemy. Courage, he says, "is the endurance of the soul in spite of fear." Courage is when, knowing what is right, you do it. It's not all bravery. It's wisdom, and strength, with a little bravery thrown in, too.
The other day, I was talking about technology. Today, most everyone has at least a TV, cell phone, and computer. And I feel weird, lost a little,when I don't have my phone by my side. Just sixty years ago, nobody had these things. Today they all feel so normal, and we expect Apple to come out with the next big thing.
So the 20th century saw the biggest, most impressive technological advancements in the history of the world.
The 20th century also saw the most brutality. The most lives lost. The most devastation.
A man thinks he is justified in wiping out an entire race, and then others try to follow in his footsteps. A country decides it's better to drop its most devastating weapon on innocent people rather than risk the loss of more military lives in the war it's waging, and then does it again. Fifty years following see the development of more of these types of bombs.
No one knows how many people Stalin killed, but I've heard between 12 and 60 million. Can you even imagine?
And I can't help but think, that technology made all of this possible.
Albert Eistein's theory of relativity helped other scientists in the later development of the atom bomb.
He later called it his most regrettable contribution to science. He never intended his discovery to lead to the loss of thousands upon thousands of lives.
How did technological advancements help the Soviets spy on their own people? Today, the number of nuclear weapons has gotten completely out of control, and we wage more wars to stop others from making them too.
It's disgusting, terrifying, how much horror the human race is capable and willing to inflict. Einstein's and others' discoveries weren't always intended to inflict harm, but others used them to do so.
Some people say, well, this or that war is justified. I ask, for whom, the soldiers who risk their lives fighting for leaders who treat them as pawns in a global game of chess? For the innocent women and children, the "collateral damage", dying for the "greater good"? I think people use that as an excuse.
Back to the courage thing. So many young men were brave in Vietnam, and so many died. They were brave whether they believed in the war or not. But America still lost. I guess I don't really have a point here.
Other than to say, nobody wanted all that to happen. Einstein wanted his discoveries to be used for good. America wanted to save the South Vietnamese from Communism. I want technology to save lives in the 21st century, not take them.
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