Need some help for school...

[mmmbeans]

DULCE ET DECORUM EST

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. . .

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est

Pro patria mori.

this is the best consolidation of the idea that I can think of. Courtesy Wilfred Owen

[pstall]

WW1 is where the ante was upped and so was the body count. WW2 was a stark contrast but just as much carnage yet it was viewed as more just and noble. Heck even Sean Penn is supportive of WW2.

I do think WW1 starts the cycle for America and the rest of the world in the disillusionment/cyncial trail and at least every 20 yrs some type of offensive as occured since then and here we are.

[Epistaxis]

http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/ww1lit.htm

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-134211373/silently-watch-ing-dead.html

This social trauma made itself manifest in many different ways. Some people were revolted by nationalism and what it had caused; so, they began to work toward a more internationalist world through organizations such as the League of Nations. Pacifism became increasingly popular. Others had the opposite reaction, feeling that only military strength could be relied on for protection in a chaotic and inhumane world that did not respect hypothetical notions of civilization. Certainly a sense of disillusionment and cynicism became pronounced. Nihilism grew in popularity. Many people believed that the war heralded the end of the world as they had known it, including the collapse of capitalism and imperialism. Communist and socialist movements around the world drew strength from this theory, enjoying a level of popularity they had never known before. These feelings were most pronounced in areas directly or particularly harshly affected by the war, such as central Europe, Russia and France.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath_of_World_War_I#Social_trauma

Damn dudes. If I had Google-fu back in school instead of those infernal microfiche and silverfish laden libraries I'd be President right now. lol

So much for technology as the great Satan.

[Delhomeboy]

To bring my woefully narrow expertise as an English major into this, for those who know about the Lost Generation, they in part earned that moniker exactly from what everyone has described in the posts. WWI gets lost a little under the shadow of WWII, but we forget that never before had the world seen such destruction; like Delhommey said, the old ideas of glory, and patriotism, heroic charges, intergrity, all that good stuff which people had more or less depended on in past wars all disintegrated with this one. After it was over, no one was really sure what to do. The Allies thought they had to take all their frustration out on the Germans, which came back to bite them later, and in America, you had an entire (Lost) generation that was returning from a conflict in which their entire view of how the world worked had been shattered and changed.

And I still think technology is the great Satan.

[Epistaxis]

Nah man, tech isn't to blame, it is how we use it.

Can't lose sight of what makes us human and who is ultimately responsible for things like war, mass destruction, and personal responsibility in general.

Even Wall-E made that thematic point.

[Delhommey]

A photo that always struck me.

A fort before and after the the Battle of Verdun:

[Delhomeboy]

Oh, I don't disagree. However I would argue that increasing technological interferences lends itself to snowballing into catastrophe. Even if we DON'T use technology irresponsibly, we are becoming more and more dependent on it, to our own detriment--which is why you get perfectly sane and intelligent people driving into lakes because their GPS told them to.

EDIt: this was to epistaxis.

[Epistaxis]

Again, back to my personal responsibility statement.

Tech is fabulous, but reading a map is good too, so is (gasp) looking at a compass.

Bottom line: All we have over the other animals with their sharp claws, amazing speed, excellent sense of smell, etc. is our bulbous brains.

Tech is an outgrowth of said brains.

Honing/developing our competitive advantage is not evil, allowing it to take the place of the brain that created it is not evil, just irresponsible.

Hm. Hope the OP can use this tangent.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Again, thanks you everyone who provided me with some insight. It has all helped tremendously and I actually think I could get this paper going after reading all of this. In one way or another I'll use what people said. The difficult part now will be organizing the essay.

Anyways, I'll be sure to let everyone know what I get for a grade.

Go Panthers!

[Delhomeboy]

Again, back to my personal responsibility statement.

Tech is fabulous, but reading a map is good too, so is (gasp) looking at a compass.

Bottom line: All we have over the other animals with their sharp claws, amazing speed, excellent sense of smell, etc. is our bulbous brains.

Tech is an outgrowth of said brains.

Honing/developing our competitive advantage is not evil, allowing it to take the place of the brain that created it is not evil, just irresponsible.

Hm. Hope the OP can use this tangent.

And is taking the place of said brains...I suppose it depends on your definition of irresponsibility. IMO, irresponsibility can be, in many, if not the majority of cases, inherently evil.

And you also have to wonder whether not reading a map is irresponsible, or if it's just the direction in which the country is heading. I mean, if a person only depends on the GPS and never reads a map, and then blindly follows said GPS to their doom, is that entirely their fault OR is it a combination of the cultural leanings of the society? Heaven knows America, at least, is continually valuing having other things think for us than thinking for ourselves.

[Scrumtrilescent]

Remember this? lol

http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/gps-unit-drives-british-man-off-cliff-20090327/

[CarolinaKid704]

I just skimped through most of the thread. Looks like you got some good help. I believe you'll want to talk about how "AQOTWF" was one of the first movies to show THE WORLD how terrible war was. But yeah, that is a word that provokes a lot thinking, guessing to allow you to go in multiple areas of research such as technology, population growth, politics etc.

Good luck!

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Could a mod please delete/terminate this thread? Thank you.

[Squirrel]

Could a mod please delete/terminate this thread? Thank you.

Nope, It is now Intellectual property of the Huddle.