war

The English word war comes from the Late Old English words wyrre and werre. Wyrre and werre  come from the Proto-Germanic word werso which means ‘to confuse or perplex’. Romanic people adopted to the Germanic word for war to avoid the Latin word bellum because it tended to merge with bello which means beautiful.

War is hostile contention by means of armed forces, carried on between nations, states, or ruler, or between parties in the same nation or state; the employment of armed forces agains a foreign power, or against an opposing party in the state.

War is forged for three reasons: power, property or prestige. It has rung true, presently and in the past, that countries or states with the biggest armies have these three things. War is a business. The countries or states with the biggest armies usually run the World. An ancient example of this would be the Romans. A present example would be the United States of America. 

War has evolved over time into what we call modern war. Unlike historic wars, which were passionate and honorable, modern war is cold. It is no longer the honest battle of one man to another, it has become the manipulation of the public eye; a war of information. In the past, people fought for their beliefs. It is rare to see large scale wars today where the soldiers know and understand the true motives behind the war. Being a soldier has become a profession and with that profession, the passion has, for the most part, been lost.

Modern war is a machine. Like a machine, this type of war has progressed with technology.  Today’s war rarely see’s soldiers on the ground of the country being invaded. War today is one in the skies, one on the strategy tables. It has become a game of nuclear bomb chicken.

Warfare is going the action of carrying on, or engaging in war. Warfare is the strategies armies use to defeat their opponent. One aspect of warfare is the way with which armies recruit their soldiers. To serve your country is something to be proud of and heads of state manipulate that honor in order to get people to enlist. Warfare is also concerned the way with the justification of their soldiers killing other soldiers and even civilians. Warfare dehumanizes human life. Warfare treats humans life as a pawn in the power hungry bigger picture. Sacrificing four soldiers to kill one hundred enemy soldiers is justified in common warfare. 

War is the only situation humans experience where killing another human being is justified. It is the truest conflict of morals for most people. A common side effect of this conflict of morals is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition which can develop following expose to an extremely stressful situation or series of events outside the usual range of human experience, which may manifest itself in recurrent nightmares or intrusive vivid memories and flashbacks of the traumatic event.

Citations:

"war, n.1". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/225589?rskey=SyJqbn&result=1#eid (accessed November 21, 2012).

"warfare, n.1". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/225718?rskey=KycRZx&result=1&isAdvanced=false#eid (accessed November 21, 2012).

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". OED Online. September 2012. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/236860?redirectedFrom=post+traumatic+stress+disorder#eid13116266 (accessed November 21, 2012).

"War". Online Etymology Dictionary. 2012. Douglas Harper. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=war&searchmode=none (accessed November 21, 2012)

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