CAMUFLAGED EMOTIONS. STOICISM IN THE MILITARY Essay

CAMUFLAGED EMOTIONS. STOICISM IN THE MILITARY - Essay Example Many writers have discussed about the threat and terror of war and many writings have been published with war as the main theme. Men have been fighting each other since they began to live in communities. The terror of war still continues: Kuwait, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia and many other examples could be cited out from different parts of the world. Though wars are fought between nations, they are carried out between the military forces that fight like faceless entities. The continuous fighting and the military life had tremendous effects on the soldiers, causing radical changes in them. Many have been commented about stoicism. The words of the famous British historian and philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) provides a clear picture of stoicism when he says: â€Å"sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy.† (Russell). It is generally viewed that stoics exhibit happiness and sadness together and it speaks of one’s uninteresting mentality. The camouflaged emotions always haunt them and they are really suffocated under the forcible working conditions. They are tended to be hard and rough, influenced by these circumstances. Many factors play significant roles in leading soldiers to stoicism. But it is not possible for one to reach in the assertion that it is the stoicism that turns the soldiers to be rough and coarse. Stoicism sometimes turns out to be favorable with the soldiers when it is regarded with their ability of endurance and loyalty in matters connected with their nation’s freedom. Generally, soldiers are denied the right to make decisions regarding matters in connection with country; instead, those decisions are vested in civil officials like the president or congress, who are to an extent failure in handling the matters. Military has always been formed with a fixed frame