The Impact of War

           De Tocqueville describes perfectly what happens to a nation during war when he says...
"...The most important occurrence in the life of a nation is the breaking out of a war.  In war, a people act as one man against foreign nations, in defence of their very existence.  The skill of the government, the good sense of the community, and the natural fondness which men almost always entertain for their country, may be enough, as long as the only object is to maintain peace in the interior of the state, and to favor its internal prosperity; but that the nation may carry on a great war, the people must make numerous and painful sacrifices; and to suppose that a great number of men will, of their own accord, submit to these exigencies, is to betray an ignorance of human nature" (93).
        Being the person I am, I always want to expect the best in everyone -- to believe that everyone is trustworthy and sticks to their good side.  But it seems, according to this quote, that not everyone does...people only come together to do good and maintain peace during a war.  Why then, if Americans are stereotypically  seen as "good" people, does this not happen on an everyday basis?  And hasn't this standard of "people act as one man against foreign nations" kind of deteriorated as the years have gone on?  If we think back to the Revolutionary War, people were very united together to gain their freedom from England.  In the Civil War, even WWII, people did what they could to support their troops (victory gardens!!)...yet looking at the war against terrorism today, the government can't always look to its people for support.  People have conflicting views....the majority of the people don't want war, yet they want to stop terrorism....but we can't do one without the other.  As the years have gone on, the expectation that a nation will unite during a war seems to have diminished...and in a way is disappointing.