What Are We Fighting For?

[Almighty Colin]

Civilizations clash and the strong survive. The history of the world reads much like a history of organisms. Those civilizations which best master their environment are those that survive. Civilizations must eat, drink, and reproduce in order to survive. They must extract from their environment what they need to go on.

As civilizations arose, groups of people formed large social units and then started spending quite a bit of time competing against each other instead of "just the environment". In the arts, in sports, in ideas and many other things - but most importantly in war. War - because the vanishing of one civilization due to war is often the result of superior organization, leadership, and a better economy. Rome, for example, spread many useful things across the world through war.

As far as the human species is concerned, why are we still competing? What will be gain from it? Why do we need to still compete against each other? Why do we need to improve the human race and where will our next enemy come from? Maybe our next enemy comes from within - parasitic viruses. What kind of civilization would best survive viruses? Scientific ones, I presume.

What if they come from outside however? Alien invasion. Sounds silly. But what if? If an utterly superior race of beings came here and slaughtered us - that would be evolution at it's best, wouldn't it? Trimming of the trees.

Some people like to think that "intelligent" life visiting earth would be some really super peaceful non-violent smart guys that have everything figured out. Not me. I believe they would have survived their own nearest enemies not through peaceful means but by violence. Violent cultures have been some of the most successul on earth in the clash of cultures. In what other way do organisms succeed faster? Maybe through economic means one can win the evolutionary arms race. But let one civilization gather lots of goods and an inability to defend themselves and the next one over will hit upon the idea of beating them to death and taking it from them with force.

I don't know if aliens will ever come or whether they exist or whether it is likely. Maybe we should keep killing each other just in case. You know, be on the safe side.