l leader, should not solely be to blame for World War II. Leaders rise in power because of their followers. The du Pont Company manufactured the guns and the ammunition, but military leaders deployed the weapons to their soldiers. The decision of soldiers to use the weapons or the supporters to enable leaders to rise into power reveals the human nature of the individual decision-maker. Everybody is an individual and each individual has instincts, whether learned or inherited. Instincts can evolve over time, such as technology evolves. When the light bulb was invented, the candle was not thought as the ideal source of light. The ability to fight and kill our own species is considered to be an inherited instinct. According to Konrad Lorenz, who published On Aggression in 1962, each individual has the instinct to fight, known as the aggressive instinct. Backed scientifically, “many physiological changes take place when one becomes angry. Blood pressure and sugar levels rise and the pulses quickens.” (Ziegler, 127) Konrad also states that animals have similar instincts as humans. Their instinct to fight is demonstrated when prey threatens their clubs or territory which they live. But he suggests that animals’ aggression instinct has evolved and the “inhibiting mechanism” developed. Animals challenge their enemy and fight, but Konrad noticed that the weaker opponent will surrender, or make an “appeasement gesture”, signaling the fight is over. Individuals seem to lack the ‘inhibiting mechanism” and thus the instinct to kill results in more deaths. Similar to the aggressive instinct, the “inhibiting mechanism” is an inherited trait that may take decades to evolve. “Only when individuals change will states change” and then the decision to escalate into war may be examined more cautiously. (Ziegler, 127)The Vietnam War can help us better understand why wars occur....
