"It will be coercion from above that will do the trick rather than patriotism from below."
- Randolph Bourne, A War Diary (1917)
Bourne takes issue with the democratic hypocrisy of the government and its intellectual militia, who have determined their course of action to enter the World War I and spread democracy. In his experience, there existed little patriotic fervor, some critical dissent and an overwhelming apathy towards the war. Democratically speaking, the United States shouldn't have entered the war; it's populace wasn't behind it. But its leaders were, so it didn't matter.
A War Diary harks back to Bourne's disgust in Twilight of Idols with the instrumentalism of war promoted by Dewey and Wilson, but it also illuminates what he understands as a failure of democracy. His musings construe a frustration with the inevitability of the situation and lack of government concern for public sentiment. It's a timeless frustration that often finds itself at the forefront of public discussion in wartime. He further also cites the war as a failing American progress, distracting the creative, innovative minds from pioneering a constantly evolving, forward-thinking global culture.
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Bourne’s A War Diary eloquently discusses the frustration of war. How war is fought, the zealousness that ensues, its cyclical nature; each of his points resonate with the seeming inescapable reality of “hard power.” With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I think people should look to Bourne’s criticism of war in order to work towards greater peace. Especially as the “causes” of war grow more and more vague (i.e. the “War on Terrorism”), and thus easier to perpetuate, it becomes more important to understand these failings of war. After all, it is sad that the same critiques Bourne makes in 1917 can apply to 2009.
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