Wars seem to be heating up all over the world. And you’ll hear a word spoken over and over like background noise by world leaders, military spokespersons, and the news hosts: ‘civilian casualties’.
Or as the aggressor would describe them, ‘Collateral Damage’.
Public outcry follows, justifying their country’s actions. As you know, there’s also a ‘war of narratives’. C’mon, they want to paint your hands red too, so support them. And no, they won’t share what they seize, whether it’s land, leverage, or contracts. You’re just here to clap and mourn at the same time.
Let’s look into what they gain.
Us vs. Them.
Every great political leader knows: when you haven’t done much and your term’s running out, the best strategy is distraction. And as history teaches us, from Napoleon to Stalin, the best distraction is war. In war, the rich and the poor are the same — except the rich don’t suffer half as much. But that’s okay; we’re all on the same side, after all. It creates a sense of false unity. People wrap themselves in flags and forget their hunger, their bills, and their protests. The opposition party can’t question you now, or they’re anti-national. Neat trick!
The Dangerous Edge of Nationalism.
Nationalism is almost bred into us; it’s the best form of control, after all. Pledge to your nation. Sing the anthem. Watch the brand-new patriotic film of the summer. Be grateful to the army.
No one ever questions why. Or it’s “Get out, traitor.”
In reality, the army protects us from enemies we didn’t make, over land we aren’t going to get. If we cared about lives and martyrdom, we’d question whether they have to be lost to senseless conflict and push to end it, not go in harder.
Caught in the middle is a nationalism that demands silence. You either support your country, or you’re branded a traitor. Ask, “Did we really have to kill that child?” And suddenly, you’re unpatriotic.
But questioning violence isn’t betrayal. It’s humanity.
When Death Has a Narrative.
But millions die every day from disease, from hunger, from accidents, so why does this matter more?
Because these lives are lost to hate. Vicious, propaganda-induced hate. Because these aren’t random deaths; they’re orchestrated, justified, televised, and then forgotten. Because someone decided these lives were expendable to prove a point, draw a border, or win an election.
That’s why it matters. That’s why it should keep us up at night.
It has become almost a trend on social media to take sides in wars, rooting for, defending, and cheering for one side as if they were football teams. Most don’t even stand on principle or morality. They follow the narrative, whichever side has the stronger one, whichever side gains more clicks, more followers.
This is exactly why the civil war in Sudan rarely makes the headlines. There is no clean “side” to support, no packaged narrative to repost. Yet the numbers are worse than all other wars dominating Instagram feeds: 150,000+ deaths, 12+ million internally displaced; 8.1 million facing emergency-level food insecurity.
The arguments end when you condemn all atrocities committed on both sides, aligning with neither. The world would be better if we spent less time debating who is right and more time asking: Who needs food and shelter, and how do we stop people from dying?
Because every minute spent choosing sides is a minute not spent choosing life.
“In war, there are no winners, but all are losers.”
~Neville Chamberlain
Maybe I’m too optimistic, and maybe this article is too. I know I’m small; we civilians are small. We can’t single-handedly dismantle military complexes, convince all Indians not to hate Pakistanis, or Israelis and Palestinians to see each other as humans first. But still, when history recalls me, I want to be remembered as someone who tried.
“Imagine all the people, sharing all the world.
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
~John Lennon, Imagine
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