"III. The official theory of
war--the military metaphysic--is itself among the causes of the thrust
toward war. The less adequate one's definitions of reality and the less
apt one's programme for changing it, the more complex does the scene of
action appear. "Complexity' is not inherent in any phenomena; it is relative
to the conceptions with which we approach reality. It is the task of those
who want peace to identify causes and to clarify them to the point of action.
It is the inadequate definition of world reality and the lack of any imaginative
programme for peace that make the international scene appear now so complex
and hopeless to the American elite, that make perilous those piecemeal
reactions which constitute much of U.S. official action and lack of action
since the decision to obliterate Hiroshima" (The Causes
of World War III, 1958, p. 86).
"IV. It is the continual preparation
for war that the power elite now finds the major basis for the furthering
of the several and the coinciding interests of its members" (The
Causes of World War III, 1958, p. 86).
"V. For the politicians, the
military metaphysic provides a cover under which they can abdicate the
perils of innovative leadership. . .it hides the political vacuum in which
they now irresponsibly commit their political defaults (The
Causes of World War III, 1958, pp. 86-87).