Some (Interior) Situational Sources of War – Part VII

This series is devoted to highlighting some of the psychological tendencies that encourage individuals and groups to enter conflicts and wars that they later regret. Part I and Part II of the series included portions of an article co-authored by Daniel Kahneman and Jonathan Renshon, titled “Why Hawks Win.” Part III reproduced an op-ed written by Situationist friend Dan Gilbert on July 24, 2006. Part IV and Part V in this series contained the two halves of an essay written by Situationist Contributor, Jon Hanson within the week following 9/11. Part VI contains an op-ed written by Situationist Contributor John Jost on October 1, 2001, “Legitimate Responses to Illegitimate Acts,” which gives special emphasis to the role of system justification.

In this installment, we post a video created and narrated by psychologist Roy J. Eidelson, Executive Director of the Solomon Asch Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The video is entitled “Resisting the Drums of War.” In it, Eidelson focuses on five core human concerns — vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and helplessness — that “profoundly influence our personal and collective lives.” The video contains an impressive collection of speech and interview excerpts, which it employs to show how the current administration manipulated (and is manipulating) those concerns to justify initiating, maintaining, and expanding the war. Eidelson’s video also offers suggestions on how to counter appeals to the five core concerns.

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