SJE1993H
Militarism is and has been an ongoing part of civilization and state formation throughout much of recorded history. The devastating effects of war on the environment, individual human and group life, and the disruption of any sense of normal lawful or civil society are well documented. It is difficult to find any political group who advocates or see war as a preferred means of conflict or social resolution. Yet war, militarism, and the quest for dispute resolution and ordination of one group over another is a central part of human history. In many accounts of history and what G. H. Mead called human group life war and militarism is all but a code word for what we label as history.