PHILOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE POEM "WE WANT WARS"

 

WE WANT WARS

 Homicide is not a natural activity,

but wars produce joy and money
and ease the souls of many. This
will to kill is a disease, it is
an unnatural activity to want, but
especially the death of your fellow human
because you in turn can become
a victim and you have the impression under the rule
of this will that for the longest
time you yourself become a defenseless
insect and you see yourself as a fly
crushed with a slipper against a wall.
But man sees the world through 

an apocalyptic nervousness and wants
wars, in vain he tries
not to want them, he imitates calmness,
but he does not succeed in quietening down.
Homicide cools them down.
He, God, made people this way
by grace. And they want slaughters and wars.

Core Philosophical Tension

The poem explores a dark, existential paradox: humanity is driven by a destructive will that it consciously fears but unconsciously craves to relieve metaphysical anxiety.

Here is a breakdown of the poem's core philosophical themes.

The Paradox of Desire and Survival

• Antagonistic Drives: The text mirrors Sigmund Freud’s theory of the "Death Drive" (Thanatos), where humans hold an inherent, self-destructive urge that competes with the survival instinct (Eros).
• Rational Absurdity: Wanting war is labeled irrational because it invites personal vulnerability.
• The Existential Mirror: The fear of becoming a "defenseless insect" or a "fly crushed with a slipper" evokes Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. It represents the sudden, absurd loss of human agency and dignity under the machinery of violence.

Psychological Relief Through Violence

• "Apocalyptic Nervousness": The poem portrays humanity as existing in a permanent state of existential dread and structural anxiety.
• Pathological Catharsis: The phrase "homicide cools them down" suggests that violence acts as a horrific form of political and psychological catharsis. It temporarily quietens a restless, anxious species when artificial calm fails.
• Commodification of Death: Mentioning that wars produce "money" links the existential crisis to historical materialism, where capital profits from systemic slaughter.

The Theological Problem of Evil

• Divine Determinism: The poem concludes with a stark theological accusation: "He, God, made people this way by grace."
• Subverted Grace: This twist challenges traditional concepts of a benevolent deity. It implies that original sin or the capacity for mass violence is an inherent, divinely engineered feature of human nature rather than a flaw in free will.

This poem aligns closely with Thomas Hobbes’ political philosophy, particularly his views on human nature, the state of war, and existential fear as described in his 1651 masterpiece, Leviathan.

Here is how the poem’s themes directly connect to Hobbesian thought:

The Natural State of War

• Inherent Violence: Hobbes famously argued that without a central governing power, humanity exists in a natural state of "war of all against all" (bellum omnium contra omnes). The poem echoes this by stating that despite trying to "imitate calmness," humanity ultimately "wants slaughters and wars."
• Failure of Artificial Calm: The poem notes that man "tries not to want them... but he does not succeed." Hobbes similarly believed that peace is artificial and fragile; human desires and competition constantly pull mankind back toward violent conflict.

Psychological Drivers: Fear and Gain

• Material Benefits: The poem states that "wars produce joy and money." This directly mirrors Hobbes’ three principal causes of quarrel in human nature: competition (for gain/money), diffidence (for safety), and glory (for joy/reputation).
• The "Crushed Fly" and Fear of Death: The poem's vivid imagery of feeling like a "defenseless insect" or a "fly crushed with a slipper" represents the ultimate Hobbesian fear: the constant danger of violent death. For Hobbes, the fear of this exact vulnerability is the primary psychological driver that forces humans to seek security.

The Problem of the Sovereign and the Divine

• The Absolute Rule: In Hobbes’ view, humans escape the terrifying vulnerability of the "crushed fly" by submitting to an absolute sovereign (the Leviathan).
• The Divine Leviathan: The poem takes this hierarchy a step further by blaming the ultimate Sovereign—God—stating, "He, God, made people this way." Where Hobbes sees violence as a mechanical flaw of nature that humans must fix through a social contract, the poem views it as a divinely engineered, inescapable curse.

The Counter-Perspective: Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Realism

Analyzing the poem through these three lenses reveals contrasting views on whether violence is an inherent human trait, a societal corruption, or a tool for power.

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1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Society as the Corruptor

Jean-Jacques Rousseau offers a direct inversion of Thomas Hobbes' philosophy and a sharp critique of the poem's premise.

• The Noble Savage: Rousseau argued that humans are naturally peaceful, timid, and empathetic in the "state of nature." The poem's claim that "homicide is not a natural activity" initially aligns with Rousseau.
• The Creation of War: Rousseau asserted that war is not a biological drive but a social invention born from private property, civilization, and inequality. The poem's mention that "wars produce money" strongly supports this Rousseauian view. Society creates the greed ("money") that introduces the "will to kill."
• Artificial Calm: Where the poem says man "imitates calmness, but he does not succeed," Rousseau would argue that this "apocalyptic nervousness" is a psychological sickness caused exclusively by modern civilization, which forces humans to live in an unnatural state of hyper-competition.

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2. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Will to Power and Catharsis

Friedrich Nietzsche would reject both Hobbes’ fear and Rousseau’s desire for peaceful innocence. He would interpret the poem through the lens of psychological drive and vitality.

• Reinterpreting the "Will to Kill": Nietzsche posited that the fundamental driving force of humanity is the "Will to Power"—the desire to dominate, create, and exert force. The poem's concept of a "will to kill" that "produces joy" is a raw, unrefined manifestation of this power drive.
• The Sickness of Suppression: The poem states that man "tries not to want [wars]... but he does not succeed in quietening down." Nietzsche would argue that society has domesticated human beings, forcing them to repress their natural, aggressive instincts. This repression turns inward, causing "apocalyptic nervousness."
• Cruelty as Catharsis: The phrase "homicide cools them down" mirrors Nietzsche's observation in On the Genealogy of Morals that, historically, making others suffer was a supreme joy and a way to discharge pent-up psychological energy.

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3. Modern Political Realism: The Inevitability of Conflict

In international relations, Political Realism (built on Hobbes' foundations) views the international system as a lawless arena where states behave exactly like the humans in the poem.

• Anarchy and Vulnerability: Realism assumes the world stage is anarchic—there is no global government to protect anyone. States live in constant fear of becoming the "defenseless insect" or the "fly crushed with a slipper" by a stronger superpower.
• The Security Dilemma: The poem notes that wanting war is absurd because "you in turn can become a victim." In realism, this is known as the Security Dilemma: a state's attempt to build weapons for self-defense inherently terrifies its neighbors, triggering an arms race and increasing the likelihood of the very war they wanted to avoid.
• Rational Profit: The poem's note that wars produce "money" resonates with neoclassical realism, which highlights how military-industrial complexes and resource competition drive nations into conflict, framing systemic slaughter as a calculated financial and geopolitical gamble.

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Summary Comparison of Philosophical Frameworks

Philosopher / School	Source of Violence	View of the "Crushed Fly" (Vulnerability)	Meaning of "Homicide Cools Them Down"
Thomas Hobbes	Inherent human nature (competition, diffidence, glory).	The foundational fear that drives humans to build societies.	The natural release of friction when there is no absolute ruler.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau	Social institutions, property, and artificial civilization.	A state of terror manufactured entirely by unnatural social hierarchies.	A pathological symptom of a corrupted, money-driven society.
Friedrich Nietzsche	The suppressed, turned-inward "Will to Power."	The weak, herd-like fear of suffering that denies life's harsh realities.	A dark, explosive catharsis that releases repressed primal instincts.
Political Realism	Systemic anarchy and the absence of a global ruler.	The realistic fate of weak nations that fail to secure power.	The inevitable rebalancing of power when diplomacy fails.