Americans are obsessed with war.

We see everything through that lens. War on drugs. War in poverty. War on obesity. War war war.

We are blunt instruments trying to bash everything into submission.

What’s worse, we’re proud of it.

A perfect example of the outcome of our warfare brains is how we grow food. We try to bash things into efficient boxes of plans and structures. We declare war on nature to bend it to our will. As long as the numbers of production are correct, that’s all that matters. Pay no attention to the ever decreasing yeilds, and ever decreasing nutrient content. We will just bash more chemical fertilizers into it. Declare war on it.

We engage the world the way we engage in diplomacy. Which is to force everything. Working with nature, or with systems different to our own seems insulting. Learning the natural ebbs and flows is too difficult. Bash it. Honk your horn. Make it move faster. We just need to work harder, and push more. Make it obey.

And yet, everything happening around us right now would indicate we might reconsider our blunt instrument approach to everything.