Path of the Warrior Pt. 4: Modern Warfare

In the last post I discussed a bit about the use and breadth of Violence as it relates to the Warrior and hope that I made a case for the context that a Warrior need not be prone to violence nor employ violence to be a Warrior which tends to run counter to modern beliefs about those who claim the title.  One more thing I would like to add about that (which is a response to the comment of a dear friend of mine via social media) is this:  The use of Violence provides limited outcomes to any scenario.  The Warrior should always be careful to remember this as limited outcomes often prevent the possibility of good outcomes.  Violence, in my opinion, should be utilized only when the potential outcomes of not employing violence have been so severely limited that there is no other reasonable option.

In modern times, what we have is a focus on the violence of the Warrior and not upon the most important tenets of what the Warrior represents for their tribe or community.  In media (Film, Television and Literature) the concepts that have been common to the Warrior class for thousands of years often play second fiddle to the violence used by the "Warrior" to solve the problem presented before them.  It is certainly there, it can be seen when the main character has his or (less often) her moment of doubt as to whether their plan for setting right to wrong will work or whether it is worth the effort, right before they let loose a flurry of .50 caliber bullets and explosions at the mean kingpin of crime that accidentally slaughtered their village.

I tend to prefer tragic heroes to those who end up smiling and getting the girl at the end of the story because most often this is how the Warrior ends their life:  Blood and pain.  Of course, it need not be real blood or physical pain but even as a metaphor it is not the same as dying comfortably in bed surrounded by loved ones.  Historically, our tribal ancestors (especially those from European ancestry) looked down upon those who died this way.  To them, the greater glory of the battlefield was to be admired.  Dying while in combat wrote the Warriors name into books of those who might sit at the table of Odin waiting for Ragnarok, the Norse end of the world story.  Even a cursory look at the mythologies of our ancestors often showed that the Gods looked with favor upon those who rose to hero status because they took the field as Warriors.

Today, we tend to tell our children (after a fashion) that the only manner in which they can achieve such hero status is to go oversees to foreign shores and shoot people from 100 yards away or push a button from 100 miles away.  We now have drones that can be flown from half a world away in time for the pilot to wipe out a small village of people and be home in time for dinner.  This is not the Warrior culture of our ancestors and to mistake it as such is folly.  There were times when our ancestors would settle inter-tribal conflict by single combat, when Warriors faced off and looked each other in the eye while swinging their weapons.  Today we have snipers, missiles and drones.

The point here is not to berate the military.  In fact, I have a great respect for the women and men who joined the armed services because even if I do not agree to the uses our military is put, I believe earnestly that those who choose to serve do so in the belief that this is a great nation and are willing to support it, with force if necessary.  However, what makes these folks Warriors has less to do with their service to their country than it does with their service to one another.  In essence, military personnel, especially those in direct combat operations, often rise to the level of being a Warrior because of the profound sense of support and protection they provide to their comrades at arms.  As a Warrior, I can respect that even if I cannot respect the mission to which they are assigned.

Robert Heinlein, in his seminal work "Starship Troopers" once said of War that:

"The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force. The purpose is never to kill the enemy just to be killing him . . . but to make him do what you want him to do. Not killing . . . but controlled and purposeful violence. But it's not your business or mine to decide the purpose of the control. It's never a soldier's business to decide when or where or how--or why--he fights; that belongs to the statesmen and the generals. The statesmen decide why and how much; the generals take it from there and tell us where and when and how. We supply the violence; other people--'older and wiser heads,' as they say--supply the control. "

This quote, while taken from a page of science fiction, demonstrates the difference between the Warrior and the soldier aptly in my opinion.  A soldier is not required to think for themselves beyond carrying out the orders given by those who see them as a tool of war.  It is not for the sniper or the Drone pilot or the missile boat commander to question why they are placing ordinance on a birthday party, it is only their place to make it happen.  Where Warriors tend to flourish within the ranks of the military is often in the units of soldiers who need to rely upon one another to survive.  That sense of duty to one another and connection to each other is what creates Warriors, not the wanton violence of the theater of war.  It is exactly the willingness of a soldier to place the well-being of the group before their own personal interest that makes them a Warrior.  In this manner it can be said that a great many warriors were created in the crucible of military service.

What we need today from our Warriors is not the willingness to impose violence but the willingness to fight for the principles of our communities.  This could easily be different from community to community but it remains the same throughout in the sense that the values of the tribe require protection and support by those who are willing to step into the space between sword and shield.  Our culture is in decline and most people recognize that to be true even if they care not to admit it.  The consistent wearing down of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in our society has created an foreboding that I see more and more inherent on social media.  The messages of light and love are staggered throughout with outrage over the disrespect we have shown our common Mother, the Earth and the "inalienable" rights afforded us by our founders.  One can barely deny the credible claims of climate change, man made or otherwise, while simultaneously shouting alarm at the overwhelming lack of social justice in our culture.  Our future, without those willing to fight for our communities and protect them in a myriad different manners, is a bleak one for certain.  If we should wish for something to survive us, it is now that we need to consider educating the next generation of Warriors that will carry our traditions into the future and that will be the subject of the next post in this series.