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Some men have always enjoyed killing others. Maria Ehrenberg reads, reflects and is afraid to write a story that cannot be denied.
The publisher calls this book a “discussion book” and announces that it is the fourth part of the discussion series that also contains “Basement People”, “To the Stars” and “Huvudstupa”. I don’t think I agree. This book has a greater depth, breadth, and preparation than most discussion books that I have come across. Let’s call it by its proper name: critique of civilization. And as such both dizzying and terrifying. Throughout the book, Carsten Jensen has conversations with philosophers, authors and historians, sometimes the references are a bit numerous.
The critique of civilization, of course, which in part contains answers to questions but also leaves the big question unanswered. The starting point is that men have always fought, and that many men have always found joy, a euphoria, in the battle itself. Impressive connections are made between the pale Achilles, the “burning with rage” and Danish soldiers in Afghanistan and war correspondents, the adrenaline rush not found in everyday life. With a feminist worldview, it is not difficult to agree, but Jensen overlooks the fact that several women take an active part in the battle today.
The other side of the war is a PTS condition for life. The suicide rate among veterans is high and a surprising analysis by Jeppe on the Mountain highlights this: Jeppe is not super because he is poor and beaten by his wife, but because he was forced to watch 3,000 Danes die in Wismar.
Is it okay to fight? Carsten Jensen is not a pacifist, but he sees today’s war as an excuse not to act for real. Instead of murdering Osama bin Laden, he should have been captured and brought to justice. This is what was done after the Second World War, the executioners will receive their punishment before an open curtain in a judicial process. Otherwise, we will erode democracy.
Terrorism is the second main theme of the book and Jensen begins with the obvious but devastating fact that the Western world treats terrorists differently. The terrorism of Anders Behring Breivik tries to explain itself through an unhappy childhood, a young Danish who joins the IS does so because he is Muslim. One is individualized, the other is part of a belief system. It is dangerous, says Jensen, and points to exclusion as one of the most dangerous forms of terrorism. And the joy of killing.
How do you make people want to kill? The recipe is simple: the masses suggest that there is a we and a judgment and that the latter are not worthy of being considered human. Make sure that many people think that the solution to a problem is to eradicate them. And murderers should not feel remorse.
We acknowledge the reasoning surrounding Nazism and the Holocaust. Jensen believes that the same recipe is eternally useful and even on a softer scale. Striking is his observation that while the sympathy of the Western world was for those bombed in Aleppo, the same people considered themselves a burden as they raced across Europe.
Here we have the main strength of this book: it forces the reader to think about self-reflection and responsibility.
