Results of Ruminations

I've been troubled, of late, about what feels contradictory and confusing impulses. First, some preface: I'm currently reading Savoj Źiźek's Violence: Big Ideas/Small Book . It is fascinating, deep, and really easy to read (an absolute must for me, as my brain has atrophied more than I care to admit). It contains myriad comments about how we perceive violence, particularly the concept of the symbolism of it. I'm reading it not just for pleasure, but as another useful source for my long-delayed video game analysis. It will often wander down other theoretical and philosophical paths (with more than one unintentionally humorous rant against liberal communists who, from his point of view, simply aren't liberal--or communist--enough), so it's hard to really pin it down well. Nevertheless, it's getting me thinking about violence in general, and war in specific. That's what leads me to this post: War. My class has been slogging through the first half of the t...