*Willingness to send one's own children to their deaths

French General Fabien Mandon has openly stated at a congress of French mayors what many advocates of war and national greatness would rather keep quiet: War means the conscious use of human lives—often one's own children—for a purpose far removed from heroic ideals.

The term "dying for one's country" is a metaphor that distracts from the brutal reality of war. Such collective terms with emotional but little reflective meaning obscure the fact that war specifically means that people are killed. Ultimately, the goal of war is to kill others in order to appropriate their resources.

French General Mandon—"We must be ready to sacrifice our children"

"If our country becomes weak because it is not ready to accept the loss of its children, if it is not ready to accept economic hardship because priority is given to defense production, then we are in danger…"

[Note the personification of "our country," which usually only occurs when "sacrifices" are demanded from the population.]

War is also a lucrative resource. There is no conflict that does not produce numerous beneficiaries before, during, and especially after its conclusion. People who shamelessly profit from the suffering, death, and destruction of others—while the affected themselves usually gain no personal benefit from the war.

The beneficiaries include not only those who profit economically from the war but also those who benefit psychologically. These are people who use aggressive war rhetoric or psychological pressure to get others to go to their deaths for their purposes, often without any compassion or conscience. Many politicians and other public figures fall into this category.

Anyone who finds this statement too harsh should take a closer look at the political elite, who are currently dividing societal resources among themselves—a synonym for corruption. You can hardly find anyone among them who has shown even a hint of remorse or apology for the devastations of recent years—such as through lockdowns, vaccine mandates, or other authoritarian measures.

For illustration: A recent video shows what war means for those who are not sitting in warm offices counting money that they, like the corrupt circle around Zelensky, are siphoning off into their own accounts.

Only the dead have seen the end of war

(WARNING: Contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing)

The Ukrainian soldiers shown, who fell near Kursk, were sacrificed for a PR success.

These people have nothing to do with this war. Their families gain nothing from it. The general population gains nothing from it—neither from this war nor from any other.

Only those who glorify war with hollow concepts like state, homeland, self-sacrifice, freedom, or democracy benefit from it, profit from it, and take pleasure in war.

We should not forget this truth when people are sent to war again soon for personal sadism, profit, or the entertainment of others.