Love and War

Love and War. Violence and Sex. Ideology and Freedom. Fact and Illusion. All might be fair, but fairness is subjective and perspective can change what is right and what is wrong. As is the case with any polar dynamic, one extreme exists in order to justify the other. We all find ourselves standing somewhere along the spectrum between terminal ends, or maybe at one extreme or the other, and we judge the rest by our own shifting location. Sometimes the grass looks greener, and sometimes the heat and mirage make it appear to be burning.

I chose four dichotomies to discuss and yes, I believe there is a definite contrast between the first two. Love and War are not Violence and Sex. Regardless, I’d like to discuss these relationships in reverse order. Fact and Illusion. Fact can only be determined empirically and can only be conveyed by removing any emotional component from communication. One gives and another receives information. Illusion is created by distorting fact with an emotional lens, and allowing oneself to believe that component is somehow necessary. Or, it’s the belief by either party in pure falsehood. Sometimes we just don’t have the correct information. For the purposes of this writing, illusion is belief in twisted fact.

Ideology and Freedom. A worldview can be based on Fact or Illusion. An ideology is developed around either, but is still limited by perspective. Even fact can be twisted to be negative or positive depending on how the individual responds to that fact. Roses are red. Usually. Well, I hate (this is an emotion) red (I don’t). A world full of red roses would be terrible (it wouldn’t). Adding red roses to every city would improve moral… For me, it is a detestable notion (it isn’t). True Freedom comes from the ability to understand or appreciate the dilemma from any and every angle. Anything else leads to fascism, in the most extreme cases. When neither giver or receiver can agree to disagree, conflict is born. Warfare over expansion or territorial dominance is simpler. I’ll leave that out of this piece entirely.

Now back to Love and War, then Violence and Sex respectively (yes, I’m making a statement). War is the refusal to come to an agreement when illusions don’t mix. Love is the ability to understand differences and find a mutually beneficial solution. At times, this just is not possible. Or perhaps it is, but is disturbing to one side or the other. For example, Love and War should both exist… they do. Killing is desirable to some. How does Love justify this and allow it to persist? In the past, gladiators and the Colosseum.

Violence and Sex. Often, when tension exists between differing ideologies, Sex is used as a replacement for War. And when love is unrequited or betrayed, it often turns to Violence. So what is the point, and how do we arrive at Peace, which is an incredibly unstable or uninteresting state of being. Allow tension, find understanding, and then commence with what it breeds… in that order. Female and Male.