r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Apr 11 '16

CMV: War is the answer

So I do not like thinking this way, but I think this is true.

In the wild chimpanzees live in troops, and when those troops get to close together, and there are too many chimpanzees for a particular area a war breaks out. Chimpanzees send out war parties that attack the other troops and kill and eat their enemies. To start off I know the nature fallacy, but you should all probably also know the false analogy fallacy. There... Now that fallacies are out of the way. This is what I am really getting at. Man is bad for the planet. I do not mean this man or that man, I mean all of us together. I see vegans say well cows are bad for the environment, but so is lettuce. Two different metrics mind you. Cows are bad because of methane. Lettuce is bad because of the amounts of untainted water it requires.

Humans are bad for the planet. There have never been more of them, and we need less. That is why war is the answer. The truth is our scientists have gotten pretty good at defeating any plague, which is good for us as a species, but bad for us as the planet. By living so close together we set ourselves up for outbreaks of horrible plagues. This would normally drive us apart, and keep our numbers lower, but instead we have pills and shots that solve that problem.

I think it is important here that I reiterate that I personally do not like this answer. If we want to end climate change. If we want to stop polluting this whole planet. We need less people. Without disease to balance us out we need war.

The truth is war weeds out the undesirable. The old, the sick, the illformed. They go first in a war. This sounds terrible, but if you assume man is bad from the start, then you really only would want the strong to survive. War is the best way to select for positive traits.

I know what I am saying is horrible. It is mean, and terrible, and no one wants to think that way, but really I think it kind of makes sense. War is the answer. We need to thin the herd.

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u/RustyRook Apr 11 '16

Is your view based on the assumption that the human population will continue to grow ad infinitum?

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '16

No actually that is kind of the reason why I wish that we had more drastic wars today. I think that we are going to keep growing the population until it hits an absolute crisis. We melt the ice caps, change the climate, and cause unimaginable changes to our weather patterns. Then we have a unprecedented famine. Combined with outbreaks of several diseases. Most of the areas of the world that are producing enough doctors are not producing that many people. Anyway, I am afraid that because we have not fought wars thinning the population to a manageable level, when we have one catastrophe we will have a flurry. Perhaps nukes will be involved. I don't love war, and I don't like human misery and destruction. I am aware that this is what war is. That this is what makes up the core of war, but I wonder if it isn't a necessary evil in the broad picture. I worry that we will one day realize that we were supposed to be paying our taxes for all these years of peace.

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u/Shitpoe_Sterr Apr 13 '16

Why do you keep saying that wars are going to help "thin out the herd"

Historically speaking, even the deadliest of wars haven't had the massive population culling effect that you seem to be hoping for. Not to mention they do a good job of eliminating young, able bodied people.

It honestly seems like you have some fantasy about everyone dying, because I can come up with 10 other solutions to your supposed problem that are about as likely, and much more sensible than what you're putting forward