Could War Be a Good Thing?

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“The great questions of the day are not settled by speeches and majority decisions, but by iron and blood”-Otto von Bismarck What does this mean? I think this means a few things, but I believe the most important thing Bismarck is trying to say with this is that real solutions of big problems are not found by politics and voting, but by violence and war. By this he means that some of the biggest problems of the modern world were never resolved by political means, but by military conflicts instead. It also means that no matter how decided things seem to be in court or in conferences with the government, the real feelings of the people only come out during a physical conflict, where people can kill and show, without boundaries, their honest opinion without having it turned down. With this quote, it could be that Bismarck is implying that speeches and majority decisions can never really change someone’s mind, or stop them from rebelling. It is clear that he believes that only war will really bring someone down and solve a lasting problem. What do you think? I agree with this quote to some extent, but in another way I disagree. I agree with the fact that war does usually resolve problems by making it clear what is wanted, and enforcing it physically. If one looks at the history of the world, it is true that some of the biggest problems appear to have been solved quite efficiently by fighting. Admittedly, sometimes in politics the decision is made but nothing is actually ever solved. However, I disagree with the fact that violence keeps everyone satisfied with the solution and that it solves the problem in a fair way. Voting in politics is very clever, since there are no advantages or disadvantages as there is in war, seeing as everyone has an equal vote. In this way, people can concentrate only on the problem in hand whereas in war the stronger and fitter people
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