ONE of the complexities of the human mind is that the mind is a product of social circumstances, genetic environment, cultural upbringing, and historical experiences. Against this reality it is difficult to speak about the human mind as such. There are several types of human minds that exist in life.
It is for this reason Sigmund Freud rejected the concept of human nature. Freud believes that if you accept there is something called human nature, then all humans can be studied using one methodology – understanding human nature. But for Freud, each person has a different mental make-up, so how can you speak of human nature?
The people of the world outside of Europe who were victims of the European messianic mission to control and own civilisation, cannot understand at a psychic level how a country could be enthralled with war. The people of the post-colonial world hate war because war caused them to lose their lands.
A good example of how the mind varies from race to race can be gleamed from the thinking of a large section of the Jewish race. The ordinary non-Jewish person cannot understand how Jews feel about themselves. First, they believe that a Jewish man, Jesus Christ, saved the human race, thus Jews are a rare, unique, superior group of people. Secondly, the Jewish religion reinforces this anthropological thinking. Thirdly, the Jewish religion sees it as a mission of every Jew to go back to the land that God reserved for them. Therefore, Jewish people do not see the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem as belonging to anyone except the Jewish race.
The psyche of the peoples of certain parts of Europe, including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, among others have predisposition for war. Here are words from the French Chief of the Defence Staff, Fabien Mandon, that every human in the world should study, because it tells the story of Europe’s psychic acceptance that war is part of the European civilisation.
Mr Mandon, speaking of the coming European war with Russia, said that France will have to accept the “loss of its children.” He actually used the words, “the coming war.” NATO’s defence chief, Cavo Dragone, actually urged NATO to pursue a preemptive strike against Russia.
Here are some frightening words about the coming third World War. They came from the mouth of the German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius. He referred to “the last summer of peace for Europeans.”Why has the war not come as yet? I think it will come any minute, once the Americans agree to participate.
It hasn’t started because there are people close to President Trump and Trump himself who do not accept the Americans fighting a war for Europe. This is the crucial factor. The Americans know they will have to play a major role in the defeat of Russia, because the Europeans cannot defeat Russia on their own.
The lingering doubt the Americans have is the old European story of the Slavic race versus the Ango-Saxon-Germanic breed. The Americans know that the Europeans want to fight Russia and it goes back centuries ago. What the Americas do not accept is that Russia is a threat to American security interests around the world. President Trump strongly feels that Ukraine is a European quarrel that could be solved.
The Europeans do not see it that way. They now have an opportunity to remove Russia by citing the invasion of Ukraine. It is for this reason that the then Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, intervened earlier in the war to stop Ukraine from signing a cease-fire. There will be a new UK Prime Minister in days and he will simply do what all his predecessors have done – attempt to confront Russia militarily.
What the world needs to understand is that Europe is not going to wait forever for the Americans to agree to start the war. They are still waiting. They wanted it to happen last year, but Trump was not interested. Europe will wait in 2026 and if Trump does not agree, we will see another global war caused by the Europeans. There was one in 1914, then another one in 1939. The possibility is very strong that we will see one next year.
Of course, Europe and Russia will not survive. But this is where the complex human mind comes in: we in the Global South cannot imagine another world war, it is unthinkable for us. But the Europeans do not think like that. If Europe is killed off in the war, the thinking is that Russia will die too and that is what the Europeans want.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.
