Can someone explain war to me? I understand violenence in general

for glory, power, pride & riches

>>2272592

Alright. This is going to be long, but bear with me.

So you're a hunter-gatherer. You and your family of 30 or so other hunter-gatherers live pretty quaint lives. Every day you go out, do your thing, and come back home to your makeshift residences before moving on against as vegetation gets sparse, or the herd animals move on. Shit is tight.

Then one day while you and your buddies are out chasing down elk to death, you run into another group of guys doing the exact same thing. Except they're a little different from you. A little taller, a little quieter, a little bigger in general. You have literally zero cultural exchange, and you can't speak the same language even if you wanted to.

The shock of this meeting leaves both sides so baffled and on edge that your quarry successfully escapes to live another day. Your group of mates has wasted the whole morning and afternoon. You're pretty miffed, but this sort of thing has happened before. Besides, the incursion of these people, this /other/ has left you so baffled that you don't even know how it could get any weirder.

A couple of your buddies want to start shit, but everyone is tired from running around all day. So you go back home, tell your story to the womenfolk, the children, and the elderly around the campfires.

A few days pass, and the event begins to fade. Your family picks up and moves on. Then, on the hills... you see /them/. They see you too. In the distance, everyone just looks on at one another. No one can find the words to say anything about this transient meeting. You and the other men instantly become on guard though, because despite how similar these people look there's still something slightly off about them. Eventually they dip into the trees and out of sight.

>>2272592
>>2272734

The women begin to worry, the children are scared, and a few of the old men say that these people are demonic spirits. You keep your thoughts to yourself, so far this pack hasn't done anything to you or your ilk. So while they are a bit odd, they've given you no reason to think they harbor any ill intentions.

Time passes once more. You come back with a fresh kill, and everything seems ordinary save a group of hysterical women who run back from their daily chores of picking fruit, and digging up roots. There was a lone man, one of the other people. His appearance was such that they gave flight instantly without even learning his intentions. Many take this as proof of the demonic origin of these solemn folk. They say that he had come to steal the women away, to kill them, and do other horrible things.

The men are out for blood, but you press for caution. Going to war against this tribe could be a mistake. You don't know how many they are, and they did seem quite formidable. Perhaps there are many more in this region that you just have never come across, and they could easily outnumber and kill everyone in your family. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

With these warnings, everyone is thoroughly subdued but still shaken by the day's events. To try and allay their fears, you say that everyone should prepare to leave in the morning and make a new camp somewhere else. This ought to put enough distance between you and the /others/.

>>2272592
>>2272734
>>2272740

This plan works. Everyone leaves as the sun rises, you burn everything you can't take, as is custom and consecrate the new grounds you settle upon. There is still a lot of work to be done, so you go back to hunting. It is what you are good at after all, but some of your friends don't wish to go. They say it isn't safe still and they'd prefer to stay back and protect the women. Uncertain of this, but unable to do anything about you decide to go hunting all the same. Your people need provisions after all, new hides for new gers, sinew, and all sorts of other supplies need to be replenished.

You resolve to make those who don't stay behind work twice as hard today in order to pick up the slack. The hunt is a prosperous one. And things seem to be going well. You and your party return with several kills. But yet another surprise awaits. The men who said that they were staying behind are not with the others. In fact they never had any intention to. Knowing full well that you would try to dissuade them from the conspiracy that they had hatched the night before.

One of the older women tells you that they've gone East, back the way that the group had came. She says what no one else will. That they've gone to fight the other tribe. You are put into a precarious position. If you take the other men with you, the village will truly be defenseless and provisions will fall dangerously low. There is only one option. You will go alone and bring the other men back, making them stop this madness before it spirals out of control.

Although it is late in the day, and you are exhausted from the day's exertions, you take a small cache of supplies, your spear, and you move on from the others. Entrusting your small band to take care of everyone else in the meantime. You must walk through the night, guided by the stars above to make your way back to where you had came.

>>2272592
>>2272734
>>2272740
>>2272745

As the moon begins to crest, the miles upon miles of walking you've done today really starts to take its toll. You force yourself on, until finally you make it back to the old camp. It is there that the small group of hunters who aimed to break the peace are gathered. Each man sitting and holding their own weapons close. Speaking to one another in hushed tones as they plan their next moves carefully.

With your unannounced arrival, they are taken by surprise and menace you. Before finally realizing who it is. They calm, if only slightly. Eventually you begin speaking to the group. You try to talk sense into them, but they won't have it. This whole evil spirits story is the nonsense of enfeebled old men, the women were probably scared by an animal, no one has done your tribe any harm.

Everyone is silent for a while. Until finally someone speaks up: they know. But that doesn't matter. Snowfall will start soon, and the people will grow ever more dependent on the food you bring in now, and the animals you hunt in the cold days ahead. Spending time trying to find new herds to follow, going out of your way to avoid these people while they get easiest and most abundant animals? It's not just a waste of time, it's dangerous! Your caution could possibly jeopardize everyone. Even if the peace is kept, the resources at your disposal may not hold. But they might, you urge. But they might not, they say back.

The other men stand up together and ready their weapons. It's time to decide. Either help them now, or you'll never help anyone in the tribe again. You search yourself quietly for some time, gripping both hands tight around your stone tipped spear. Soon your new hunt would begin.

>>2272734
>>2272740
>>2272745
>>2272748
Top tier writefaggotry, anon.

>>2272748
>ntil finally someone speaks up: they know. But that doesn't matter.

oh ok

>>2272592
Are you asking why soldiers engage in combat or why nations go to war?

Think if a country like a business. As a business, you have to be constantly expanding or making some kind of effort to at the very least maintain the status quo. If you don't, you will get eaten up by the competition. Your 'customers' will take advantage of you. It's an inevitable fact of the world we live in.

Soldiers engage in combat because it is their job. They get paid to do it.

>>2272796

Eh, I tried. Still missed a few words here and there, and the syntax is wrong in a few places.

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>>2272600
>glory, power, pride & riches
For those at the top of the chain of command and if they win meybe.
For enyone else not at all.

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>>2272734
>A little taller
I think we found the source of the problem.

>>2272970
why did they leave their groin defenseless

boredom and being extraneous to society

if 60% of people produce food for 100% of the people, some of the remaining 40% may not be doing anything useful at all. if no one's going to teach them a trade, though there exists enough food to feed them, they may have to live on charity or go hungry.