War, an opportunity!

All Quiet on the Western Front (German, 2022)

Director: Edward Berger

Ancient Chinese philosophers, Lao Tze in particular, used to say, 'In War, everybody loses'. But on the other hand, Sun Tzu, the author of Art of War, the military treatise of the 5th century BCE, noted that amid chaos, there is also 'opportunity'.

In 1913, Henri La Fontaine obtained the Nobel Peace Prize for his outstanding work in peaceful internationalism. He asserted that the world, in the 20th century, had done away with wars and destruction. Believe it or not, the following year, Europe went into an essentially civil war which snowballed into a World War when the European colonisers sent their subjects to die in the greatest battle to end all wars.

Clive's plunder from 
Battle of Plassey (Palashi)
Auctioned at £3m

World War 1 never put an end to anything. Its effects are still felt today. In essence, Ukrainian War can be said to be an effort to end loose ends that were never resolved. As we can see, Russia and the USA, through NATO, are using the war as leverage to push forward their personal agendas and cement their hegemonic control of the world. The people on the ground suffer and lose their life and life-earnings, while others view it as an opportunity to enrich themselves and improve their own citizens' living standards. The war casualties are just mere collateral damage. Statistics.

All these talks about killing being a sin are easily justified. As in the Crusade Wars, killing for a just cause is just the caveat for leaders to gear their hot-blooded to sign up to serve the same flag they will be wrapped to be buried when they return home in a body bag.

This film is the adaptation of a 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque based on his experience with the Imperial German Army in WW1. Graphically, this anti-war drama shows how the low-ranking officers sacrifice their life and soul to serve their superiors. A simple comparison offered here is in the way these different officers dine. The soldiers on the battleground have to thrive on their rations and steal for the next meal when it runs out, while the generals are served top-class chef-prepared cuisines.

In war, not everyone loses. Some gain fame and glory, while many die. During Imperialism rule, many amassed fortunes that would last many lifetimes. One point to note is how a low-ranking soldier Robert Clive became Europe's richest man after the Battle of Plassey.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Short window of opportunity

The other day, an elderly friend of mine, aged close to being a septuagenarian* was telling me about the financial turmoil that he was facing in his life. The last thing I would want to hear is the sob story of never ending saga of self pity and tear evoking hopelessness. I guess I had enough of listening to these melancholic tales throughout childhood and my present vocation. Not having a choice, I offered a sympathetic ear. (Don't know what the Almighty has in store for me; cannot be so cocky!)
He had been under the weather with a debilitating  ailment for  almost half a year and had somehow made a miraculous recovery, albeit not a complete one. During his illness, he had used up all his savings as his wife's lone income was insufficient to manage his daily expenses and had been living on his brother's hand-outs. Hence, he had to desperately get back on his feet, get to work and bring the bacon home! Whilst listening through all this sad story, (No! he did not ask for money!), my inner heart was just itching to blurt out, "What the heck were you doing all this while, for heaven's sake you were already working when I was still in secondary school. Goodness gracious!" Of course I (being the chicken and non-confrontational person that I am) said nothing like that but instead reassured him that I would try to help in whatever way I can (how fake or what!). Perhaps, my conservative upbringing which engrained upon me that the younger shall not be rude or the fear or uncertainty of what God has up his sleeves for me in the near future probably made me act the way I did.
Then I started thinking...
Life has given all of us opportunities, some more and some less. The window of opportunity is only ajar for a short moment in time. Then it slips away... Sometimes it is not easy to catch back the moment and bring back the glory.
As a child, you are given a decade and a half or so to absorb knowledge and develop all the characters needed to be an adult. After this period of knowledge acquisition, you are required to determine a career path for yourself to indulge for the rest of your life,unless you are a rolling stone which is now perceived to collect moss also (unlike a generation ago when it could not). Once you are settled in a vocation you decide to pursue, you only a short window period of about 10 years to prove yourself. After this point of time, by this you would reached 40 years of age, it is a matter of expansion and consolidation. It is quite difficult to start all over again. It is like a lady having a baby after 40 - it is difficult to conceive in the first place and if it happens, it is not going to be a stroll in the park but rather a soul-searching, hymns-chanting, frightening walk in the ghetto.