By most accounts we’re at the most peaceful period in world history. Yet public perception of violence and conflict are completely out of whack with that. Most people think there’s more going on than at any prior period.
I don’t think that most people think that there’s more going on than before. I think that there’s just enough people in lesser populated states, who like to rebel against scientists, knowledge, and the educated. So when they see official reports that we’re actually had a very peaceful time, they feel a need to rebel against that. If they didn’t, then those attacking their religion would win.
]]>As for the 1991 Gulf War, not everyone was on the side of the US…
I’m sure you’re right about that, but what I was just trying to convey were my impressions at the time, when I was 10 years old. And back then it really did seem like everyone was on our side, to me at least.
(And yes, I had concrete–albeit naive–opinions about world events at that age. I was absolutely full of sadness and anger as I described the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests to my younger brother and fantasized about sending American fighter jets to blow up the tanks and save the students. It was right around the time I turned 8. I was a weird kid.)
]]>A way that I have always interpreted the phrase is to mean “wars and rumors of [impending] wars”. There have been many times when the speculation and “drumbeat” that war is about to erupt has been overwhelming. Think of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Think of the mood in America about a week after 9/11. News media generally call these situations “tensions”; I always thought “rumor of war” would also fit the bill.
]]>I can imagine both scenarios where there are deadly, armed conflicts and we have no awareness and also where there is no major conflict, but we believe there is.
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