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War involves the concrete realization on the part of leaders to sacrifice their best citizens for the good of the nation. The spirit of sacrifice is intimately related to the need for an ideology in the name of which one may sacrifice himself. In war, the state becomes an organization that distributes sacrifice.
Laymen who dismiss religious martyrdom with a smile are often deeply moved by political martyrdom. The faith in a just idea legitimates every sacrifice.
The spirit of sacrifice is usually mobilized in the young. It is the young who are easily moved by ideologies and who readily accept—much more so than adults—the prospect of dying for an idea.
From Fornari, Franco
The Psychoanalysis of War (on Amazon).
Excerpts on our Website here
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