War as a Black Hole for Ideas

Every blogger seems to be required to state her or his decisions about how much, if at all, they are going to “cover” the war in Iraq. It’s my feeling that there are numerous “warblogs” out there, and even more news sources doing amazingly brave and in-depth coverage from the front lines.

Essentially, I don’t feel that I can offer my readers any fact, interpretation, opinion, or analysis that hasn’t already been done and done better elsewhere. This is not to say that I refuse to post thoughts inspired by the events presently unfolding, but rather that I see no need to endlessly link to the coverage you all know how to find. And as far as “peaceblogging,” I’ve been consistently critical of the anti-war movement, the majority of which I believe is more rooted in ego gratification, posturing, and self-importance than any well-considered political and ethical concerns. I believe that current protests are futile, irresponsible, and utterly endemic of the ethical failure of the modern anti-war movement. If these protesters gave a damn about Iraqi lives, they would be investing their time, energy, and money into medical and food aid. Further criticisms of the anti-war movement are purely emotional on my part, so I’ll leave it there.

But one thought I had inspired by the endless coverage of the war is, I believe, worth blogging. There are few events that generate more information, fact or otherwise, than war. Both as they occur and for generations after, wars are incessantly documented, analyzed, mused upon, and reinterpreted. This enormous expense of energy on one central event generates an effective black hole for ideas unrelated to the war in question; the coverage is so dense, as it were, that no other idea escapes it. This is as much evident in journalism, where small community-related stories go printed but largely ignored, as it is in art and even human lives themselves.

In regards to art, think of the scores of authors, painters, and filmmakers so utterly traumatized by living through World Wars I and II that they could create works that revolved around little else.

In regards to the changes in human lives, think, of all things, of the character of Walter in “The Big Lebowski,” a Vietnam vet who can’t help but relate the most mundane circumstances to his experiences in battle, reduced to an existence without much purpose beyond remembering. This is to say nothing of the people you all know, relatives or otherwise, whose lives are now irrevocably changed by memories of World War II, Vietnam, the Korean War, or perhaps Desert Storm. War can suck the ideas, the life, the creativity out of anything it touches. Which is not to say that the ideas inspired by war are inherently invaluable, but simply that war can so dominate our minds as to let little else be considered.

As much as we need thoughtful consideration of war, we need so much else thought about, from our personal joys and sorrows to the ideas that shape our world and our futures. Is there the seed of brilliant idea in someone’s mind that will never see the sun for the shadow of war? Or is there an idea that will grow and flourish in soil soaked with blood?