The practice of molding young men by the military has been with us for at least 2500 years. The prime example is that exemplar of military virtue, Sparta. From the age of about 7, young men were taken by the state and through a harsh regimen of physical and emotional abuse were turned into what some claim even today are the ultimate soldiers. An interesting sidelight, given the current arguments around gays in the military, is that homosexuality and pedophilia may have been an integral part of the Spartan army and society. I guess you'll fight harder if the guy next to you is your lover.
Basic training in almost all armies is deliberately designed to stress the recruit/draftee physically and emotionally to break down previous commitments to family and friends, and instill commitment to his new unit. Soldiers don't fight and sacrifice for abstractions like the nation, freedom, democracy, capitalism, communism, or even their families. Rather, they fight for their buddies who they shared a lot of tough times with. This response appears to be deeply engrained in our psyches. Thus you see all sorts of attrocities commited by troops when a buddy is killed. They want vengeance, and don't always need proof the people the vengeance is inflicted on are the actual perpetrators. ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
