Even though a country is defeated,
Its mountains and rivers remain.
And over the castle ruins when it is spring,
The grass will be green again.
-- Tu Fu
War. Not much to be said for it.
There are many angry people on the Internet.
You'll find them dropping insults as comments to blogs or sprinkling irascible posts on forums and social media.
And when their keyboards fall silent, they are spreading vitriol wherever others will listen.
They are testimony to the fractious spirit of humankind that sees strangers trading gestures, not understanding, or showing their backs to the unfortunate, not empathy, or nations marching idealistic youth to death while non-combatants feign ignorance of delusional leadership.
Do not, dear reader, judge the tone of these articles before reading them, or seek messages within. My points are not subtle, but they are fine.
The idea that ordinary people forced to fight (by cowards who lead safely from behind their power) are capable of shining courage... or dark holocaust. What has it done to our history, and to confidence in our humanity?
Then there's that fearful idea that a cultural empire - deemed noble and just in tales read to children, boasted in history books, or celebrated in annual flag-waving marches - is found selfish, greedy, brutal, and most foully-murderous at the very moment in conflict when such nobility is so desperately necessary.
And that, dear reader, is a prologue to the Misanthropy articles that question the eternal belief that the enemy is evil and we never are.