Luck, Wisconsin
Teacher: Barb Petersen
The Destruction and Degradation of Mankind
By Holly Marie Mishler
12th Grade
"I don't know what kind of weapons will be used in the third world war, assuming
there will be a third world war. But I can tell you what the fourth world war will be fought with-stone clubs." Albert Einstein
Man will create his own ruin through senseless war, which accomplishes nothing and destroys everything. War is most often caused by men who
believe they have the right to anything they desire, but it is fought by those who have been fooled by their leaders' words of gallantry and
righteousness. There will always be war, even if man has nothing for which a war could be fought. It is part of mankind's nature to be
jealous of another and to desire that which one may never posses. People often fight for the most insignificant of incidences, while a
select few will fight to possess the world. Although the selection of
ammunition will vary and grow as technology intensifies, it will not matter because the outcome will be the same if such power is
misused-world devastation. If a disaster of this magnitude were to occur, mankind would revert back to the practices of its very early
ancestors. Man would lose everything he had strived to create and have
to begin anew.
Einstein was wise beyond his time and much of what he said has a possibility of coming true in our age of technology. This quote shows
that no matter what the next world war is fought with, it will certainly bring about our downfall. War is all around us, fought with many
different weapons for many different reasons. War isn't always about blood and gore; it can also happen in the home with only a few people.
The cause may not always be the same, but the driving force usually is. Jealousy, coveting, and greed are the most common driving forces behind
war. These driving forces can cause a people to strive at unbelievable
lengths to obtain what is not rightfully theirs. To me, this quote shows to what lengths men will go, how many lives they will take or
destroy, and to what extent they will push the issue just to get what they want.
I agree with Einstein that mankind will end up back in the stages of childhood if peace isn't maintained. Peace is vital to our survival,
while war is survival's arch nemesis. Man's deepest and most important instinct is survival. If peace is vital to the endurance of the human
race, why wage pointless war? Mankind has advanced so far in technology
since the stone age, it should have advanced in intelligence, also. War is for the Middle Ages, from which we have progressed to more pointless
battles and weapons of greater ability. Being able to blow up the world fifteen or more times is not important to life or survival of the human
race. The ability to blow up the world once is already too much.
Einstein's words have become very important to me. The thought that has hidden in the back of everyone's mind since the cold war has reared its
ugly head more than a few times. Einstein had an inkling of how the world would start over, knowing what the cause would be, but uncertain
of the weapon of choice. The prominent choice of destruction has been
the nuclear bomb. Following closely on its heels, though, is biological and chemical warfare. "The immense scale of these effects, and that too
resulting from just a single fission weapon with a low yield, should make it clear that the possible use of such weapons would lead to a
major catastrophe. The only guarantee that such a tragedy would never occur is complete elimination of nuclear weapons, both from the region
and from the world, and the means to manufacture them," from the Conclusion of Bombing Bombay? Effects of Nuclear Weapons and a Case
Study of a Hypothetical Explosion by M.V. Ramana. This statement
validates Einstein's comment of world destruction, if the human race were to wield its horrific tools of terror. Today our world is
endangered by two main problems: nuclear weapons remaining from the cold war and the expanding of these weapons to new countries.
"The rival great powers are safest when each has the unchallengeable power to annihilate its rival. This way, no one is supposed to try
anything, because if anyone does, all will die...Deterrence's provocative other name, of course, is mutual assured destruction, or
MAD, a reference to the menace of complete annihilation on which the stability of the arrangement rests," from "The New Nuclear
Danger" by Jonathan Schell. This supports Einstein's quote because it shows how
man enjoys having power over one another. It has been a stand off in which both sides have the power to obliterate the world but neither
willing to make the first move as long as the sides are equal. The leaders of countries that own nuclear weapons are loath to see them go.
They feel a need to protect themselves and the countries they govern from their neighbors. This type of protection need not be necessary if
peace were applied and competent individuals or committees could govern
the countries as they should.
In the world of reality not everything runs according to plan. Those who cause war usually are not the ones who fight for their cause. They
tend to sit back and watch the events unfold, while giving orders from their safe office. War should be avoided at all costs, no matter how
perfect or right the cause may be. Hopefully, we can avoid Einstein's premonition, elude a third world war, and escape from using stone clubs
while wearing deer hide loincloths.