For thousands of years since King Saul, mankind has only allowed leaders who knew and feared war to be near the reins of the state. Today we live in the age of ministers of war in miniskirts. The Prime Ministers are also only in transit in their office, on their way from the head of an NGO to one of the UN agencies.

The obsitos of older ages lived their "lonely, poor, ugly, animalistic and short lives" known from the Hobbes quote, with the horror of war constantly haunting them in the background. Note by Robert C. Castel.

Those who lived through the war had very few illusions about it. Even if they accepted it as a necessary evil, they knew the price to pay and thought twice before going on the warpath. Their opposition to the war was more practical than moral.

The pacifists of modern times, on the other hand, oppose war on principled and moral grounds. For them, war is the most evil thing imaginable, so a moral person will never seek violent solutions to resolve conflicts between nations. Unless, of course, he manages to convince himself that there is a seven-headed dragon out there that is even more evil than war. If such a thing exists, then going to war within the pacifist frame of reference is no longer a crime, but a higher moral imperative.

This is a very clear line that every knight of Szent-György learns during basic training between formal training and guard duty.

The first problem with this worldview is that dragons are an endangered species, and it's not that easy to dig one out of Rodolfo's top hat. Our knight Saint-Georgy has to make do with ever more stunted and underdeveloped dragons, until he mows down a paper kite in a Chinese nylon bag with the vehemence of a donkey.

The second problem lies in the issue of motivations

There was a good deal of cynical opportunism in the obsitos of old. If the investment promised to be fruitful in terms of value for money, then they never said no to a little fight. If, on the other hand, the scale of the calculus tilts towards the negative, or even just the uncertain, then listening to their better sense, they preferred to let the bloody sword of their ancestors rust.

For our pacifist, such a calculus does not exist. Moreover, he finds even the idea of ​​calculus immoral and beneath his dignity. According to him, the considerations of risk analysis and price-value ratio are only the bread of the squid-minded people. Our fearless and morally superior knight of St. George only fights when no one can accuse him of profiteering. Since there is no rational calculus, only moral conviction, the crusade of our glorious knight knows neither limit nor bridle.

The third problem is the wage of fear

The obsitos of old feels the horror of war in his guts. The gut-wrenching feeling of dread is still in the muscle memory. The smell of blood, burning flesh and cordite haunts every campfire and spoils weekend barbecues and hunting. The fear of death gene sits at the very top of his gene pool.

In contrast, most pacifists have never experienced what war is like. Why would you have experienced it? His whole life is about rejecting war. About peace demonstrations in front of missile bases, conversations immersed in hemp smoke about a non-violent, better world, the end of history, etc.

For him, war is just an abstract concept, something very evil, wedged between climate change and Donald Trump on the totem pole of demonology.

Then, when the realization comes that there is something out there that is even more evil than war, our pacifist throws away Clark Kent's thick black-framed glasses, unbuttons his jacket, and steps out of the phone booth as St. George the Dragon Slayer.

Since he has never experienced or studied war, he is not afraid, or even afraid, of it. He feels neither fear nor inhibitions.

Everything is overwhelmed by the brain fog of moral erection.

For thousands of years since King Saul, humanity has only allowed leaders who knew and feared war to be near the reins of the state. Today we live in the age of ministers of war in miniskirts. The Prime Ministers are also only in transit in their office, on their way from the head of an NGO to one of the UN agencies. But at least during the little time they spend in the velvet chair, we don't have to worry.

If they have to, they will press THAT Button.

Most of the voters are just as uninformed and indifferent about the issue of the war. Since he doesn't know what it's about, he can be fed anything other than bread and the circus to get his daily moral dopamine boost.

We are living the last days of a long peace. In the background, the pacifists feverishly carry the incense to the bonfire of a new world war.

They do this with a pure heart, out of conviction.

Santa simplicitas.

It is possible that soon we will look back with envy on the good old days when our war leaders only wanted to destroy this world and not save it.

Neokohn

Featured image: Caricature of István Szekeres Horváth