Survival is any living creature’s first priority. Not only to survive but to live our lives to its greatest extent is any privileged human’s wish. But even as comfortable as we are, in times of danger humans always revert back to the ancient animal instincts that helped us survive in the first place.
An example is war. Mercilessly killing millions of members of our own race is simply something we are not born to do. It should be difficult for any normal human to take the life of another human. But when the task is forced on us, we have no choice but to remove the humane part from within us. Dehumanizing the enemy and reducing them to a target makes it easier. Blocking out all human emotions like sympathy and reason makes it easier. And the will to survive on the battlefield overpowers all other rationale, succumbing us to our animalistic instincts and turning us into wild beasts.
WWI was a horrible time to be a soldier. In the beginning, young men stormed off to war with a cheerful, nationalistic attitude. They were ready to escape from their monotone lives back home and find an adventure. But after four weary years of fighting, they had seen enough of death and despair to the point that it no longer affected them. There was no time for sadness and sorrow; one just had to block out the emotions and continue fighting.
How long has it been? Weeks–months–years? Only days. We see time pass in the colourless faces of the dying, we cram food into us, we run, we throw, we shoot, we kill, we lie about, we are feeble and spent, and nothing supports us but the knowledge that there are still feebler, still more spent, still more helpless ones there who, with staring eyes, look upon us as gods that escape death many times.
How did one escape death? Soldiers could not rely only on their experience and luck. They had to become animals, empty of all humane emotions that could possibly distract or slow down a soldier. They had to become a beast with only one intent in mind: to kill.
…life is simply one continual watch against the menace of death;–it has transformed us into unthinking animals in order to give us the weapon of instinct–it has reinforced us with dullness, so that we do not go to pieces before the horror, which would overwhelm us if we had clear, conscious thought–it has awakened in us the sense of comradeship, so that we escape the abyss of solitude–it has lent us the indifference of wild creatures…
Why do we do this to us? Why do we force members of our society against one another to the hopeless point of losing our humanity? How is war worth the suffering of millions of people and the loss of a generation gone forever? Until we realize the effects of this violence, we can never truly achieve the perfect, peaceful world everyone longs for.
Kingdom Animalia 