Do people like war or peace?

[SarathW]

Do people like war or peace?
I just started to wonder whether people like the war over peace.
When there is a war they work hard to finish the war. Then they forgot about it and start another.
Sometimes I see when everything is quite a peaceful someone start the war.
Our history is all about war.
Is war an essential part of human?

[JamesTheGiant]

Can you relate this to Buddhism, or is this a topic better discussed on some other forum?

[SarathW]

You can approach this question in terms of Buddha's teaching if you wish.

[Volo]

Again, with sensual pleasures as the cause, sensual pleasures as the source, sensual pleasures as the basis, the cause being simply sensual pleasures, kings quarrel with kings, nobles with nobles, brahmins with brahmins, householders with householders; mother quarrels with son, son with mother, father with son, son with father; brother quarrels with brother, brother with sister, sister with brother, friend with friend. And here in their quarrels, brawls, and disputes they attack each other with fists, clods, sticks, or knives, whereby they incur death or deadly suffering.

***

Thus, Ānanda, in dependence upon feeling there is craving; in dependence upon craving there is pursuit; in dependence upon pursuit there is gain; in dependence upon gain there is decision-making; in dependence upon decision-making there is desire and lust; in dependence upon desire and lust there is attachment; in dependence upon attachment there is possessiveness; in dependence upon possessiveness there is stinginess; in dependence upon stinginess there is safeguarding; and because of safeguarding, various evil unwholesome phenomena originate—the taking up of clubs and weapons, conflicts, quarrels, and disputes, insulting speech, slander, and falsehoods.

[SarathW]

Volvo
It appears our intrinsic nature is, unless it tamed, is bending towards war.
Perhaps that is why a completely innocent Dhamma post becomes a big argument.
This is quite frustrating as I see the third world war is imminent!

[chownah]

Why some people like war:

chownah

[dharmacorps]

I'm not sure of the connection to the Buddha's teaching here, but yes, some people seem to "like" war. Often I find, this is less common among those who have actually seen combat. It is more like, liking the idea of war. The Col. Kilgores of the world are thankfully fairly rare, seriously crazy people. That isn't to say they don't exist. I have an uncle who was a WW2 b-52 pilot who was along those lines.

[robertk]

[alfa]

Do people like war or peace?
I just started to wonder whether people like the war over peace.
When there is a war they work hard to finish the war. Then they forgot about it and start another.
Sometimes I see when everything is quite a peaceful someone start the war.
Our history is all about war.
Is war an essential part of human?

We prefer stimulation. Which is why it's hard to sit down and be silent. War is stimulating. You do the math.

[SarathW]

Do people like war or peace?
I just started to wonder whether people like the war over peace.
When there is a war they work hard to finish the war. Then they forgot about it and start another.
Sometimes I see when everything is quite a peaceful someone start the war.
Our history is all about war.
Is war an essential part of human?

We prefer stimulation. Which is why it's hard to sit down and be silent. War is stimulating. You do the math.

It is called unrest. (Udakkha) one of the five hindrances.

[Bundokji]

What constitutes war or peace is not as clear cut as we might think.

The following speech by George Friedman is quite interesting in my opinion.

[SarathW]

Life sucks, then you die!
Did he borrow it from Buddha?
Q: How to protect from world war 3? A: Arm yourself!
Buddha did not teach that!

[binocular]

What constitutes war or peace is not as clear cut as we might think.

The world seems to be living in a state of cold war at all times anyway.
There's never really peace, just the time it takes to reload the weapons.

[SarathW]

Is it possible to win the world war 3 without killing a human?

[Bundokji]

The world seems to be living in a state of cold war at all times anyway.
There's never really peace, just the time it takes to reload the weapons.

Many would attribute the relative state of well-fare we are enjoying nowadays to technological advancements which were accelerated by the first and second world wars. The second world war ended the great depression in the 1920s and 30s.

Some people link moving towards liberal values to WW2 and the Vietnam war. Its funny how controversy over some of these values is causing tension nowadays and making our world more divided.

Weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear, deterred super power from directly confronting each other and to rely on proxy wars instead.

The defining line between war and peace is not clear, as everything else in my opinion.

The whole thing reminds me of the following story which i am sure many are familiar with here:

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe,” said the farmer.