In the past, I have argued that nearly—a universal claim tempts me—all war can somehow be reduced to a contest between elites over territory and the people and resources within that territory. I want now to offer a broader definition of war.
In this definition, war is only sometimes physically violent. But it is ongoing. The contest between elites is never resolved. Political elites squabble over who of them will control which territories and the people and resources therein. Economic elites squabble over money and property. Religious elites squabble over converts. Military elites simply exist for squabbles.
And in truth, the distinctions I draw between political, economic, and religious elites are far from sharp: Political elites need money for their governments, for their campaigns, and for themselves and impose a legal environment. Economic elites want a favorable legal environment and a compliant workforce. Religious elites offer a form of legitimacy (“one nation under god”) to some or all of the others and they pursue a “freedom” at least to worship according to their own dictates and sometimes, as with fundamentalists, to impose those dictates on others. Military elites need weapons—that must be paid for—and cannon fodder and offer other elites the means to expand their domains. The contests between these elites only sometimes fall neatly within these categories and alliances between them can be precarious.
All of it is in some way about power over everyone else and an imposed presumption that that power is somehow justified. This is the unifying factor behind these contests, these wars. And until there is one left standing, over all the others, the tensions between them will be intractable. Hence an ongoing state of war, the forest we overlook for the trees, and in which a continuum exists from all out physical conflict at the top end to a mere disagreement at the bottom.
My thoughts turn in this direction in response to an article written by Arie Perliger for Conversation on the paradox between Israeli public support for the genocide in Gaza and the loss of Israeli public support for Binyamin Netanyahu, whose alleged failings enabled Hamas to kill some 1200 people in an attack on October 7, 2023, and who now prosecutes that genocide. Perliger repeats an explanation I have seen previously for Jewish feelings of persecution, labeled “Masada Syndrome,” a label I had not previously seen, as allegedly justifying this genocide.[1] Israel acts on behalf of the United States, where neoconservatism is a governing ideology, which funds and arms Israel—and hence its genocide in Gaza, which is entirely consistent with neoconservative ideology.[2]
The failure of the political system in the United States to produce a plausible alternative to this genocide—an institutionalized false dichotomy, the “two party system,” yields two candidates who both support it—demands that this system, a constitutional oligarchy, be displaced,[3] but there is almost no prospect that this will occur. We can note, however, that its imposed presumption of deservingness of power can no longer be sustained.
And we can observe that Israel, which was created as a settler-colonial[4] ethnic cleansing[5] project, has become a genocidal project, pursuing a widened beachhead for a U.S. neoconservative interest in Middle East oil.[6] As of late July, this project had claimed at least 39,000—and possibly over 186,000—lives.[7] As of August 30, the former number had reached 40,602,[8] but apparently even this is not enough: Binyamin Netanyahu has been accused of seeking a wider regional war that would draw in the U.S.,[9] with a presumably huge death toll, but as he serves as a proxy for the U.S., we must now attribute this quest to neoconservatives in the U.S., the same folks who gave us wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who clearly still have no better plan.
The toll appears in other ways. While the world’s richest men are locked in a space race, and while they build ever larger mansions and order ever larger yachts, far too many of us suffer for want of adequate housing, food, and health care, but we are assured that somehow the former has nothing to do with the latter. Women are denied access even to lifesaving health care on account of some religious elites’ fundamentalist demands. We may never know how many more died from COVID-19 so economic elites could order us all back to work. But oh yes, their power over the rest of us is entirely deserved.
We need to lock all these elites in a room and let them settle their disputes among themselves. For the rest of us, they are murderous.
[1] Arie Perliger, “Most Israelis dislike Netanyahu, but support the war in Gaza – an Israeli scholar explains what’s driving public opinion,” Conversation, May 23, 2024, https://theconversation.com/most-israelis-dislike-netanyahu-but-support-the-war-in-gaza-an-israeli-scholar-explains-whats-driving-public-opinion-230046
[2] David Benfell, “Get ready to fight, kids,” Not Housebroken, September 1, 2024, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/get-ready-to-fight-kids
[3] David Benfell, “We are culpable,” Not Housebroken, August 28, 2024, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/we-are-culpable
[4] Karen Attiah, “The colonial history of Israel-Palestine: Bringing the receipts,” Washington Post, November 3, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/03/colonial-history-britain-israel/; Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (New York: Vintage, 1987).
[5] Kyle Rempfer, “Israeli operations uprooted Palestinians in 1948. Many fear a repeat,” Washington Post, November 3, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/03/israel-nakba-history-1948/
[6] David Benfell, “Get ready to fight, kids,” Not Housebroken, September 1, 2024, https://nothousebroken.substack.com/p/get-ready-to-fight-kids
[7] Reuters, “Explainer: Gaza death toll: how many Palestinians has Israel's campaign killed?” July 25, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-how-many-palestinians-has-israels-campaign-killed-2024-07-25/
[8] Jerusalem Post, “Gaza death toll since Oct. 7 reaches 40,602, Hamas-run Gaza health min. says,” August 30, 2024, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-817106
[9] Murtaza Hussain, “Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran,” Intercept, April 14, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/