Modern firearms and the collapse of heroism
July 10, 2023 at 3:05 pm
(This post was last modified: July 10, 2023 at 3:26 pm by Loaded dice.)
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The harsh truth is that anyone today can, in principle, get a firearm and do horrific things. This world is definitely not a good place, and can never be one as long as firearms are around.
Centuries ago, soldiers preferred to stay together in the battlefield, this way, they'll provide some form of moral support for each other and, more importantly, they're pretty sure they won't die alone... In the modern battlefield, it's the exact opposite, grouping soldiers together makes them an easy target, as one precise grenade throw can kill all of them. They're more efficient when they're dispersed, in other words, it's more efficient to die alone.
The randomness in which bullets are sprayed in the modern battelefield weakens the entire concept of heroism. Facing random gunfire just doesn't seem heroic, it just looks pointless, empty and, I might add, stupid. It's not clear at all what heroism means anymore, one bullet of machine gunfire is certainly going to hit you and put you down, you're just committing suicide. The anonymous soldier firing at you isn't demonstrating any superb skill or courage, he might be hundreds of meters away from you, and may only have limited firearm training, and yet is capable of inflicting a great amount of suffering and destruction.
Today we have bombs that can erase an entire city in seconds. Is it heroic to stay in a city targeted by an atomic bomb and "fight to the last breath"? Heroism is dead. Humanity is moribund, as long as modern weapons are around.
The harsh truth is that anyone today can, in principle, get a firearm and do horrific things. This world is definitely not a good place, and can never be one as long as firearms are around.
Centuries ago, soldiers preferred to stay together in the battlefield, this way, they'll provide some form of moral support for each other and, more importantly, they're pretty sure they won't die alone... In the modern battlefield, it's the exact opposite, grouping soldiers together makes them an easy target, as one precise grenade throw can kill all of them. They're more efficient when they're dispersed, in other words, it's more efficient to die alone.
The randomness in which bullets are sprayed in the modern battelefield weakens the entire concept of heroism. Facing random gunfire just doesn't seem heroic, it just looks pointless, empty and, I might add, stupid. It's not clear at all what heroism means anymore, one bullet of machine gunfire is certainly going to hit you and put you down, you're just committing suicide. The anonymous soldier firing at you isn't demonstrating any superb skill or courage, he might be hundreds of meters away from you, and may only have limited firearm training, and yet is capable of inflicting a great amount of suffering and destruction.
Today we have bombs that can erase an entire city in seconds. Is it heroic to stay in a city targeted by an atomic bomb and "fight to the last breath"? Heroism is dead. Humanity is moribund, as long as modern weapons are around.
