I'm working on a lecture series to bring my ideas to a wider audience (which is why my Newsletter contributions are getting shorter). Preparing these lectures, I came across the term "the masochistic sacrificial position" used by the great Franco Fornari in relationship to warfare and the soldier.

I've been writing about war, sacrifice and self-destruction for too many years. Yet somehow, I feel uncomfortable using  the term "masochism" in relationship to a soldier. Isn't this strange?  What could be more masochistic than putting oneself in a position where one might be killed or wounded?

The term "masochism" washes away our traditional idea of the soldier--as someone who is noble and honorable. Dare one say that the soldier is a masochist? That willingness to enter battle is masochistic?

And although I've written endlessly about the sacrificial posture of soldiers in the First World War and  German soldiers fighting in the Second World War, I've rarely if ever used this term masochism in relationship to these men.

How powerful thE idea of "the country" is. 

Richard Koenigsberg

PS: And as far as destructive national leaders go, people are free with terms like "mass-murderer" and "war criminal." But what about using of a good old term like sadistic to describe the behavior of such a person?