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Exactly. Would I be willing to fight a war because a fascist superpower was killing millions of human beings in my country? Probably, yes. Would I risk my life

Exactly. Would I be willing to fight a war because a fascist superpower was killing millions of human beings in my country? Probably, yes. Would I risk my life to protect the Conservative Party and banking institutions? Less likely.

rocqua 9y ago
The second war (to protect the party and banking institutions) would be promoted like the first. Propaganda is a rather effective thing in wars.
- usrusr 9y ago
  That's why most people over here in Germany are so wary of the "fight for your country" premise: the first thing that comes to mind is "that's usually bullshit", not a mental image of pillaging hordes. In an actual resist or run situation, I think that those three "unwilling" nations would not fare too badly. People are quite invested in their countries, they just don't buy into the heroic narrative.
derefr 9y ago
Would you be willing to be part of a pre-emptive attack against a much more prosperous neighbouring country with empire-building aspirations? How about a pre-emptive attack against a country where populist polls show overwhelming support for invading your country, even if its current administration is against the idea? How about joining in to defend one neighbour against another, aggressor neighbour—one which you have no personal hatred of, and share much history with—because of treaty obligations? Would you be willing to fight to defend your country (and your countrymen) if it was being invaded by a country that the UN said was in the right to attack you, because your nation was considered a dictatorship needing to be put down? Would you support defending yourself in a civil war, to protect your own countrymen from your own countrymen, on political lines you don't care about? There are a lot more shades of grey than just "a just war against absolute evil" and "a banal war against meaningless change of leadership." This distinction isn't doing its job until it makes you upset to think about it. :)
- pjc50 9y ago
  Asking the first three questions of a German is some serious WW2 history trolling. You forgot one: would you join in a war to protect people of your ethno-linguistic background who live in a country who are (you are told) under threat as second-class citizens? I believe that was the stated reason for invading Czechslovakia.
  - dogma1138 9y ago
    It's the same reasoning that Russia uses today, this isn't as much of an excuse as a pretty common cause through history.
    - ascorbic 9y ago
      Yes, exactly, and a very good reason to dismiss these as a valid reason for war.
- blowski 9y ago
  Absolutely. Whether or not I'd risk my life would depend on a lot of things.
- gehwartzen 9y ago
  Exactly. There is quite a bit of clarification needed for someone to fully answer the question and depending on how you define certain terms the responses, I would imagine, would quite different. "Fight a War" : Front line with arms? Controlling a drone from thousands of miles away? Being a military medic, engineer, or strategist? Propaganda writer? "country": Sovereign physical boarders? Extends to protecting assets/people overseas? Cyber footprint? The political party in charge? The constitution? The population? by whom?: Invading foreign force? Internal civil uprising? Military coup? aliens? ;)
  - democracy 9y ago
    Yep, that's a very good synopsis )
- 9y ago

rocqua 9y ago

The second war (to protect the party and banking institutions) would be promoted like the first. Propaganda is a rather effective thing in wars.

usrusr 9y ago
That's why most people over here in Germany are so wary of the "fight for your country" premise: the first thing that comes to mind is "that's usually bullshit", not a mental image of pillaging hordes. In an actual resist or run situation, I think that those three "unwilling" nations would not fare too badly. People are quite invested in their countries, they just don't buy into the heroic narrative.

derefr 9y ago

Would you be willing to be part of a pre-emptive attack against a much more prosperous neighbouring country with empire-building aspirations? How about a pre-emptive attack against a country where populist polls show overwhelming support for invading your country, even if its current administration is against the idea? How about joining in to defend one neighbour against another, aggressor neighbour—one which you have no personal hatred of, and share much history with—because of treaty obligations? Would you be willing to fight to defend your country (and your countrymen) if it was being invaded by a country that the UN said was in the right to attack you, because your nation was considered a dictatorship needing to be put down? Would you support defending yourself in a civil war, to protect your own countrymen from your own countrymen, on political lines you don't care about? There are a lot more shades of grey than just "a just war against absolute evil" and "a banal war against meaningless change of leadership." This distinction isn't doing its job until it makes you upset to think about it. :)

pjc50 9y ago
Asking the first three questions of a German is some serious WW2 history trolling. You forgot one: would you join in a war to protect people of your ethno-linguistic background who live in a country who are (you are told) under threat as second-class citizens? I believe that was the stated reason for invading Czechslovakia.
- dogma1138 9y ago
  It's the same reasoning that Russia uses today, this isn't as much of an excuse as a pretty common cause through history.
  - ascorbic 9y ago
    Yes, exactly, and a very good reason to dismiss these as a valid reason for war.
blowski 9y ago
Absolutely. Whether or not I'd risk my life would depend on a lot of things.
gehwartzen 9y ago
Exactly. There is quite a bit of clarification needed for someone to fully answer the question and depending on how you define certain terms the responses, I would imagine, would quite different. "Fight a War" : Front line with arms? Controlling a drone from thousands of miles away? Being a military medic, engineer, or strategist? Propaganda writer? "country": Sovereign physical boarders? Extends to protecting assets/people overseas? Cyber footprint? The political party in charge? The constitution? The population? by whom?: Invading foreign force? Internal civil uprising? Military coup? aliens? ;)
- democracy 9y ago
  Yep, that's a very good synopsis )
9y ago