This is not to say that either the conduct of war, or the
prevailing attitude towards it, has become less bloodthirsty or more
chivalrous. On the contrary, war hysteria is continuous and universal in
all countries, and such acts as raping, looting, the slaughter of children,
the reduction of whole populations to slavery, and reprisals against
prisoners which extend even to boiling and burying alive, are looked upon
as normal, and, when they are committed by one's own side and not by the
enemy, meritorious. But in a physical sense war involves very small numbers
of people, mostly highly-trained specialists, and causes comparatively few
casualties. The fighting, when there is any, takes place on the vague
frontiers whose whereabouts the average man can only guess at, or round the
Floating Fortresses which guard strategic spots on the sea lanes. In the
centres of civilization war means no more than a continuous shortage of
consumption goods, and the occa

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