religious structure for this purpose would present difficulties in our era, but
must certainly be considered.
Games theorists have suggested, in other contexts, the development of "blood
games" for the effective control of individual aggressive impulses. It is an ironic
commentary on the current state of war and peace studies that it was left not to
scientists but to the makers of a commercial film to develop a model for this
notion, on the implausible level of popular melodrama, as a ritualized manhunt.
More realistically, such a ritual might be socialized, in the manner of the
Spanish Inquisition and the less formal witch trials of other periods, for
purposes of "social purification," "state security," or other rationale both
acceptable and credible to postwar societies. The feasibility of such an updated
version of still another ancient institution, though doubtful, is considerably less
fanciful than the wishful notion of many peace planners that a lasting condition
of peace can be brought about without the most painstaking examination of
every possible surrogate for the essential functions of war. What is involved
here, in a sense, is the quest for William James' "moral equivalent of war."
It is also possible that the two functions considered under this heading may be
jointly served, in the sense of establishing the antisocial, for whom a control
institution is needed, as the "alternate enemy" needed to hold society together.
The relentless and irreversible advance of unemployability at all levels of
society, and the similar extension of generalized alienation from accepted
values may make some such program necessary even as an adjunct to the war
system. As before, we will not speculate on the specific forms this kind of
program might take, except to note that there is again ample precedent, in the
treatment meted out to disfavored, allegedly menacing, ethnic groups in certain
societies during certain historical periods.
ECOLOGICAL
Considering the shortcomings of war as a mechanism of selective population
control, it might appear that devising substitutes for this function should be
comparatively simple. Schematically this is so, but the problem of timing the
transition to a new ecological balancing device makes the feasibility of
substitution less certain.
It must be remembered that the limitation of war in this function is entirely
eugenic. War has not been genetically progressive. But as a system of gross
population control to preserve the species it cannot fairly be faulted. And, as has
been pointed out, the nature of war is itself in transition. Current trends in
warfare--the increased strategic bombing of civilians and the greater military
must certainly be considered.
Games theorists have suggested, in other contexts, the development of "blood
games" for the effective control of individual aggressive impulses. It is an ironic
commentary on the current state of war and peace studies that it was left not to
scientists but to the makers of a commercial film to develop a model for this
notion, on the implausible level of popular melodrama, as a ritualized manhunt.
More realistically, such a ritual might be socialized, in the manner of the
Spanish Inquisition and the less formal witch trials of other periods, for
purposes of "social purification," "state security," or other rationale both
acceptable and credible to postwar societies. The feasibility of such an updated
version of still another ancient institution, though doubtful, is considerably less
fanciful than the wishful notion of many peace planners that a lasting condition
of peace can be brought about without the most painstaking examination of
every possible surrogate for the essential functions of war. What is involved
here, in a sense, is the quest for William James' "moral equivalent of war."
It is also possible that the two functions considered under this heading may be
jointly served, in the sense of establishing the antisocial, for whom a control
institution is needed, as the "alternate enemy" needed to hold society together.
The relentless and irreversible advance of unemployability at all levels of
society, and the similar extension of generalized alienation from accepted
values may make some such program necessary even as an adjunct to the war
system. As before, we will not speculate on the specific forms this kind of
program might take, except to note that there is again ample precedent, in the
treatment meted out to disfavored, allegedly menacing, ethnic groups in certain
societies during certain historical periods.
ECOLOGICAL
Considering the shortcomings of war as a mechanism of selective population
control, it might appear that devising substitutes for this function should be
comparatively simple. Schematically this is so, but the problem of timing the
transition to a new ecological balancing device makes the feasibility of
substitution less certain.
It must be remembered that the limitation of war in this function is entirely
eugenic. War has not been genetically progressive. But as a system of gross
population control to preserve the species it cannot fairly be faulted. And, as has
been pointed out, the nature of war is itself in transition. Current trends in
warfare--the increased strategic bombing of civilians and the greater military
