[lit-ideas] The Soldier as Sacrificial Victim
- From: "Orion Anderson" <libraryofsocialscience@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 13:02:48 -0400
Coming Soon: Listserv on the "Psychological Interpretation of War, Genocide
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THE SOLDIER AS SACRIFICIAL VICTIM
Richard Koenigsberg
"Hypocrisy lies at the heart of the institution of warfare. People plug into
the fantasy of national power and glory. They embrace war as a righteous
struggle between good and evil. However, most people do not wish to be put
in harm's way. War is more enjoyable when the fighting is delegated to
someone else. The soldier is revered and worshipped because he takes the
sacrificial burden upon himself. He kills, suffers and dies for all of us."
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The complete paper by Richard A. Koenigsberg is available for the first time
as an on-line publication.
To read: THE SOLDIER AS SACRIFICIAL VICTIM: Awakening from the Nightmare of
History
PLEASE
<http://home.earthlink.net/~libraryofsocialscience/soldier_nightmare.htm>
CLICK HERE or visit:
<http://home.earthlink.net/~libraryofsocialscience/soldier_nightmare.htm>
http://home.earthlink.net/~libraryofsocialscience/soldier_nightmare.htm
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Awakening from the Nightmare
What would it mean to "awaken from the nightmare of history?" In the first
place, the ability to awaken means recognizing that we already exist as if
in the midst of a bad dream--one that is occurring within the space of
reality or waking life. Many aspects of political history possess the
characteristics of a nightmare. One need only turn on the television set or
read today's newspaper to apprehend the "waking nightmare" to which I refer.
The fact that one is present within "reality" or awake does not mean,
however, that one is not dreaming. It is a mistake to equate "reality" with
that which is real. War, I suggest, may be conceived as a shared or
collective fantasy, like a bad dream that many people are having at the same
time. What is the nature of the shared fantasy that is the source of the
ideology of war?
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