PrintOctober 15, 2009
Chicago and the natural ecology of human conflict
President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize celebrates his supposed commitment to a world without war. Meanwhile some people have noticed that all is not peace-process and diplomacy back at the president's adopted home town of Chicago. Gang violence has erupted recently, and the city seems powerless to stop it. What has gone wrong back in Chicago, even as the president confidently implements his strategy to reengage the US in the world community and end the international provocations and cowboy diplomacy of the Bush administration?Unfortunately, nothing is wrong back in Chicago. What we are seeing is the natural ecology of human conflict.To understand what is going on, let us dignify these gangs of young men with a grander name: armies. And let us call their leaders war-lords.When an army is on the march, it supplies itself with food and comforts by requisition. It takes whatever it needs from the farms and the towns through which it marches. How do you...(Read Full Article)
