The literate human being
proved to be a war beast equal, if not superior, to the
illiterate who was subjected to impression and conscription, or
who enlisted as a mercenary.
Current military research attempts to remove human beings from
the direct confrontation that war used to entail. Nothing
affects public support for military action more than body-bags.
These spoil the fun and games that expensive missiles provide,
the reason for which the Gulf War was nicknamed "the Nintendo
War." And missiles fare better among the Netizens, despite their
reluctance to embrace belligerence for settling disputes. Highly
efficient, sophisticated digitally programmed systems do not
relate to space and time the way humans do. This aspect gives the
machines an edge in respect to the implicit coordination
expected in war. The kinds of interaction that military praxis
requires makes literacy inadequate for coordinating the humans
who constitute today's armies. Time is segmented beyond human
perception and control; space expands beyond what a person can
conceive and control. Major components of a war machine are
placed in outer space and synchronized by extremely
time-sensitive devices. The Strategic Defense Initiative (dubbed
Star Wars) was the most advertised example. More trivial
systems, like those used in orienting troops in the desert, are a
matter of routine. The expressive power required for increasing
motivation, and for projecting a rational image of
irrationality, collides with the requirement for speed and
precision essential to accomplishing complex tactical and
strategic plans.
Pages:
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973