War, What is it Good for?

War and fighting is a fundamental part of being a human. Even from the beginning times man fought to see whose strength and abilities would determine the victor, leader, king, ruler. But as time has progressed we have seen a shift in the way war is fought. Instead of skill in combat in close quarters, we see battles being fought from much greater distances.

Team America: World Police, was directed by Trey Parker who is the co-creator of the TV series South Park. This should come to no surprise as the absolute disregard for the potential of backlash. Team America does a good job in representing the ideals that many, not all, Americans believe. When i use the term "American" if am referring to the citizens of the United States of America. This is a misuse of the word that many of us use and is shown over the top in the song that plays called, "America, Fuck Yeah". The United States is not The whole two continents of the Americans. the film depicts this by telling where the areas visited are by their relationship to the "real America".

The war that is fought in Team America is one that everybody can relate to more closely than others if they are young. The war on terrorism is an ongoing conflict that the United States tries to face. With the bombing of the twin towers in our time we have a more personal connection with this war that is being fought. Shelly Kagan talks about how war is justified if the damage that is cause is less than what the evil would've cause had it not been stopped. (332) To put this into perspective, in Team America, the Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Great Pyramids, and the Sphinx are all destroyed in order to stop a couple people with bombs. This is taking the situation way out of proportion and exaggerating it, but it does bring fourth something that needs to be seen.

The United States causes immense economic destruction and physical destruction when they try to help a country or capture a couple of terrorists. Terrorist that are always thought of to be either Arabian or Muslim because of recent events that have occurred, as seen in the movie as well. Much of the fighting that occurs which the United States is a part of, is not our fight at all. We as the "Greatest Country Ever" (which we are far from) feels that it is our obligation to help all the other countries of the world who are struggling through military conflicts, when we have our own problems at home that we decided to continue to sweep under the rug. The dominant military force that we do have has made our boarders safe with the possibility of invasion not being an option. This is also the reason that we find it to be our obligation to "help" the other countries in times of trouble as we see it.

One of the best parts of the film for me was the bar scene which a quote that is actually very deep came into the movie. The quote is:
          "There are three kinds of people: Dicks, Pussies, and Assholes. Pussies think we everyone can
          get along, and dicks just want to fuck all the time without thinking it through, but then you got
          your assholes. All the assholes want to do is shit all over everything. So pussies get mad at
          dicks once in awhile because pussies get fucked by dicks, but dicks also fuck assholes and if
          they didn't fuck the assholes, you'd get your dick and your pussy all covered in shit."
This may sound like an absolute stupid quote, but it actually describes the United States to a T. We are the Dicks, Pussies, and the Assholes all at once depending on what angle your look at us. We do care to much about other countries and we try to help all the time, but in the process we turn into Assholes and try to change the country to be more "Americanized" this brings out the rebels. They think they are the Dicks and we are the Assholes, while we think they are the Assholes and we are the dicks, when in actuality they are correct.

Something to leave you with and think about.

#TeamAmerica

War is something that has plagued mankind since it's begin years. Wars have caused some of the greatest civilizations known to man to end tragically. Most people believe waging battle or causing a war with another country is pointless and harmful to both parties in the end, but the key word is most. The United States of America is one the greatest examples of a country that uses war for self gain without regard to other people. The movies Team America and American Sniper both translate this ideal effectively. In the movie Team America, a U.S formed tasked forces performs the job of being a global police. The plot of the film is that a heroic U.S team saves the world from a global terrorist. The other film, American Sniper, also provides a similar viewpoint of U.S citizens being heroic beings in our global community. Both films point at the idea of Americans participating in war, and that when they are in war, they're doing the right thing. Immanuel Kant said,in Groundwork for The Metaphysics of Morals, "What we really intend is rather that its opposite should remain a law generally; we only take the liberty of making an exception to it, for ourselves or to satisfy our inclination." The quote makes me think more about more why the U.S has participated in some wars and what they gained from that participation. One war in particular that I would like to bring into light is the War in Iran. While it might seem that the U.S. is helping a country in need, I think one real reason is that the U.S. was trying to destroy a governmental unrest and create a governmental ally in Iraq. They participated in war for self-gain, not for helping people. I think the U.S lives on the ideals of this quote : "God Bless America, and no place else"

What do you all think?

Team Chris Kyle for America

Team America, the movie with puppets and was a joking war movie.  In the first couple minutes, the movie really represents the problem with war when Americans invade, in my opinion.  We go into a country balls-a-blazin' straight for the enemy, not considering what the cost is for the people whose land we are intruding on.  I.e. In Team America, they blew up the Eiffel Tower and this huge building, costing many lives, just to say that they "got the bad guys". In my personal interpretation  I felt as if them blowing that up was to illustrate how we don't really respect the damage we can possibly do as long as we neutralize the target, mission accomplished.  Likewise, Chris Kyle, who killed around 160 people as a Navy Seal, to protect his homeland, our homeland, from the terrorists and people who "potentially" want to harm America.  In American Sniper, Chris after his first kill lost his sense of who he is, the people he killed became almost target practice with little moral repercussions. Intending Harm, by Shelly Kagan helps us relate Chris Kyle’s actions by “if I kill the one to save the two, the death of the one- although intrinsically evil- is on the balance of a good”. Chris Kyle killed all of those civilians/terrorists/humans for the safety of his fellow marines.  Even though his kill count was around 160, he aided in the saving of hundreds of marines, some he saved more than once. 
Just War theory, allows death in war to be called as morally acceptable as long as certain specifications are met. One main aspect that could be potentially be seen as violated in Chris Kyle’s movie, was the fact of the civilian home invasion in a way that we beat certain members of the family; whom may not know a single thing about who or where the main rebellion leaders may be.  The one aspect of that possible violation is that they have the cities evacuated because of a war zone, but honestly who wants to be kicked out of their home leaving everything behind to run away because Americans are fight with a small specialized group in your country.  These people fight back against Americans most probably because they just want to live how they want to live, they want to protect where they have set up home, and protect their family.
Team America though, was all about how this actor named Gary will help learn of the terrorists plans and save America, at the expense of killing the people who just want justice for the way that America has damaged their homes and invaded their lives, forever changing who they are and what they think of the rest of the world.Chris Kyle in America’s eyes could be interpreted as a murderous villain, a martyr, and or a soldier who was doing his job, and as a person who had two military parents growing up, I believe he was just doing his job.

‘Merica.