War can be defined as the clash of two "ands". Each "and", a collection of people, nominally controls certain territory. The clash may not be over the territory itself, although it usually is, at least unconsciously. In any event, the result of this clash is usually that one "and" is absorbed by the other, or at the very least, rendered inoperable. How does this occur? The connections, or "ands", within the "and" that is absorbed are themselves ruptured.
The connections are invariably ruptured through killing, so it is worth taking a look at what killing involves. Killing can be defined as the extinguishing of one individual by another. As discussed earlier, each individual person is a collection of "and" and "or" processes, which occur at various levels, including a cellular level. It is generally agreed that one distinguishes a living thing from a nonliving thing is that the living thing has the ability to derive and generate energy from the environment and the ability, with a little help, to reproduce. Among the properties shared by all living things, whether plants or animals, is the property of respiration. Respiration consists of inhalation and exhalation. During inhalation, molecules of one type, oxygen in the case of humans, are breathed in, or brought into the individual so that they can combine with other molecules and provide some type of nourishment. Thus, inhalation is a case of the "and" in action. Exhalation, in which molecules of another type are expelled, is a case of the "or" in action. Thus, respiration can be defined as a process of the" and" followed by the "or." Various "ands" and "ors" and taking place within a living individual at any time, including some of the cellular processes we discussed earlier. An individual animal or person, of course, is not just some random collection of these and and or processes. Rather, it is a collection, that seems, at least visually, to function as a distinct unit that to some extent functions independent of the environment, or "or"ally (pun). Killing involves the extinguishing of all these or and and processes, including the generation of energy from the environment, reproduction and respiration. As earlier noted, for killing to occur, one individual has to kill another. And when killing occurs, these two individuals come together for a period of time before one extinguishes or neutralizes the other. Thus, killing involves the and. However, unlike eating, in which one individual absorbs the other, killing itself does not involve absorption. After the brief union, the extinguished individual stops functioning and in essence drops off, or is "ored" from the other. Killing is sometimes followed by eating.
When war is over land, it is largely analagous to the acts of killing followed by eating. The communicative processes within the obliterated foe are neutralized (i.e. the foe is killed.) Then the foe is absorbed by the victor. The "and" prevails. Thus, the act of conquest is a victory of the "and".
While this is true, it must be acknowledged that world conquest has never occurred. The Romans may have harbored the illusion of world conquest, the the reality was far different.
Rather, world history has largely consisted of acts of division; division of land into countries, cities etc., and ever shifting borders. Thus, the "or" has held steady. What empires have existed have been short lived. We may even conclude that history can be seen as a series of and/or progressions. Conquests followed by divisions followed by conquests. Mapping this out can be left to the historian. However, it is almost entirely self evident that history would have to be thus. World conquest is chimerical because the "or" is real and cannot be obliterated. Anarchy and libertarianism are no more than dreams that some misguided souls harbor because the "and" is such an essential part of human society.
Some last thoughts on war, which as we've found requires a rupturing of the "and" within the vanquished, which in turn requires killing and death. We must briefly return to a discussion of what death is.
While a living individual is a collection of "and" and "or" processes, living itself involves both the "and" in terms of ones relation to the environment, and the or, in terms of one's existence as a seemingly distinct unit. When one dies, the "and" stops functioning in the sense that one is no longer absorbing energy from the environment. However, it functions anew in the sense that the environment now absorbs energy from the dead individual. The dead person, animal or plant fertilizes the soil etc.
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