I am currently reading "War is a force that gives us meaning" by Chris Hedges. In it he argues that war is a powerful social intoxicant, because it produces for humans a wide range of emotions that give us a sense of direction and meaning in life. Hedges, who has first hand experience with the horrors of battle, makes the point that it is precisely war's horrid brutality that makes us hate it and love it.
Hedges' argument about emotional intensity corresponding to a need for meaning in one's life interests me. When people enter into social arrangements which are bad, such as the social arrangements necessary for the prosecution of war, do they do so because in spite of any negative consequences, being involved in a bad situation still gives them a sense that they are involved in something? Perhaps this explains why people stay in bad relationships. It probably even explains addictions; not just to drugs and alcohol, but also to work or shopping.
Just a thought.
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