War is controversial, unfortunate, and certainly misunderstood; it is a transforming agent, a catalyst for change. Nonetheless, many people focus on war's negative consequences, while positive effects are downplayed. War is a necessary evil in the sense that it stabilizes population, encourages technological advances, and has a very high economic value. Without war, the overpopulation of the human race is inevitable. It is this reason that war is a useful tool by not only Mother Nature, but also humans themselves to institute population control.
Humans have engaged in war for thousands of years. The earliest recorded instance is circa 2700 BCE. Of course, the fighting extends much further back as this was near the advent of writing. Even Confucius observed "... war checks population growth" speaking in relation to what problems overcrowding would institute (Neurath 6). Tertullian, a Christian author circa 200 CE stated "...pestilence, famine, wars and earthquakes have come to be regarded as a blessing to overcrowded nations, since they serve to prune away at the luxuriant growth of the human race" (8). These two statements, separated by almost 700 years and a vast distance coincide on one major point: that war is a useful tool to govern overpopulation. The ramifications of overpopulation are so great, that it is being reported in multiple news agencies that a "Sixth Extinction" is underway, caused solely by the human's enthusiastic attempts at procreation and manipulation of Earth (Eldredge). In fact, just as population grows exponentially, so did the deaths resulting from war; a trend that continued up until the end of World War II, after which worldwide deaths from war decline dramatically and rest at around one million per ye...
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...al advancements in the terms of civil, medical, and defensive advancements. At the same time, it has a galvanizing effect on economy through not only new innovations, but a lower unemployment rate and higher per capita output. War has saved economies from disaster, promoted the welfare of health, and the quality of life for not just humans. War may be hell, and it may be wrong, but war is certainly necessary.
Works Cited
Kojima, Hideo. Metal Gear Solid 4.Konami Digital Entertainment. 2008. PlayStation3 BD-ROM
Neurath, Paul. From Malthus to the Club of Rome and Back. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1994.
Eldredge, Niles. The Sixth Extinction. June 2001. 30 March 2010.
“The Manhattan Project.” Modern Marvels. Prod. Don Cambou and Sean Dash. The History Channel 4 Jun. 2002. Television.
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