MILITARY MIND (November 27, 2014)
Thus a graffito that attracted my attention in a narrow street in the pedestrian area of Zagreb. And in English, albeit with a slight misspelling typical of many graffiti in Croatia. I checked it on the World Wide Web as soon as I had a chance, and I found a great deal under this phrase, including popular music. But much of what I found is about trauma and recovery. Predictably, large part of it comes from the States. Which started me thinking. Most of the modern war is well beyond a common soldier’s comprehension. Why am I here? What am I doing? How should I behave? When will I get out of this mess? The scale of the modern war is unprecedented, and so are the causes of conflict in our times. Besides, the technology of war makes the other side ever less palpable. Once upon a time, all this was rather different. Going back to prehistory, each and every warrior knew all the answers to all the questions that might cross his mind. The other side was of flesh and blood, too. Although trauma was there, as well, there was little if anything obstructing recovery. Indeed, there is a huge difference between a warrior and a soldier. The former is not a pawn like the latter. Military mind is thus a part of the modern era, and it will disappear together with our civilization. Sooner or later, trauma and recovery will be things of the past. And so will the military mind. Hail, posthistory!