The Myth of War: Interview with Chris Hedges

We become the embodiment of light and goodness. We become the defenders of civilization, of all that is decent. We are more noble than others. We are braver than others. We are kinder and more compassionate than others -- that the enemy at our gate is perfidious, dark, somewhat inhuman. We turn them into two-dimensional figures. I think that's part of the process of linguistically dehumanizing them. And in wartime, we always turn the other into an object, and often, quite literally, in the form of a corpse.

The Myth of War: Interview with Chris Hedges

We become the embodiment of light and goodness. We become the defenders of civilization, of all that is decent. We are more noble than others. We are braver than others. We are kinder and more compassionate than others -- that the enemy at our gate is perfidious, dark, somewhat inhuman. We turn them into two-dimensional figures. I think that’s part of the process of linguistically dehumanizing them. And in wartime, we always turn the other into an object, and often, quite literally, in the form of a corpse.

War is Zen

Look, some of the things they tell you about war are true. The colors are brighter, the mind races ahead of itself, you are awake, aware in a way that you have never been before. War is Zen. And that's true. It is an incredibly, at once, horrifying and exhilarating experience.

The only antidote is love. It's the only force that can overpower you to such an extent that you can no longer go to war. Of those people who I have seen who were most able to resist the intoxification of war, most were couples who had good, powerful, loving relationships. They didn't fall for the nationalist rhetoric or the drumbeat of war. And that's why, as in Bosnia or in World War II France, the people who rescued persecuted minorities were almost always couples. And those that thrill and find the greatest attraction to war are mostly atomized or lonely individuals.