War has more benefit than harm

I agree, I do have a large mountain to climb, but it is not impossible. I will start with some refutes and then get into my argument. "Loss of life" Luckily, the population can be restored. Take for example WWII. The USSR sustained by far the heaviest losses, but recovered a little under a decade. Other countries recovered in even less time. http://en.wikipedia.org... "As such, while Pro may be able to prove that there are benefits to certain wars, the reality that they engender more wars means that he has to prove that a very significant majority of warfare is beneficial" Every war is beneficial in one way or another, which I will discuss shortly. I would to start by saying that war is necessary. War occurs regularly and relieves social tensions. War always was, and always will be because after a certain amount of time of disagreement between two groups, they solve it with armed conflict. In fact, war can be regarded as a resolution of an already present conflict. Before the beginning of the war, the people were already unhappy (which is why they began fighting), after the war is over, the conflict is resolved. One way, or another. If there was no war, then people would be constantly unhappy with something/someone that they cannot remove. I will begin with the spread of technology. In ancient times, when one nation would invade another, the nations would exchange technology such as agricultural techniques/tools. When the Europeans came to the Americas, they brought with them crops. These crops were adopted by the natives and in the long run, resulted in a large population "boom" because there was now an excess in food supply. The Europeans also brought animals such as pigs, horses and cattle. The indigenous peoples also adopted these which allowed for an even greater population as well as better transportation. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org... http://www.gilderlehrman.org... Although many natives were killed by Europeans and diseases, they benefited greatly from the Columbian Exchange and prospered. Their population recovered and progressed even more because of European technology that was brought to the New World. This happens over and over again throughout history. Another example would be the Crusades. Although the Christians were only victorious in one of the four major Crusades, the knights brought back Muslim knowledge, books and technologies that increased quality of life in disease, famine and war ravaged Europe. http://www.history.com... Culture is spread as well. When culture and ideas are spread, this results in regions being more diverse, which causes more new ideas, meaning that there is more progress in technological and social fields. The most common way culture is spread is by war. Finally, war causes an extreme jump in industrial production and technological advancement. For example, in WW2, because of the need for more machines and resources, the Soviet industries skyrocketed. The following categories doubled, in not tripled, in production during the war: amount of steel, fuel, building materials and transportation services. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk... The production of war machines, of course, also increased greatly. http://www.nationalww2museum.org... Not only did the quantity greatly increase, but the quality as well. In war, a country needs to out-number, out-gun and out-produce its opponent. This means that new technologies are made that increase public transportation, agriculture and food supply, and medicine. War is a period of very much growth because so much more effective technology is introduced. You mention the spread of influenza during WWI, although this did cause damage, it led to very much advancement in the medical field. Had there not been the sharp need to make a cure, then influenza might have still been a large problem today. Blood transfusions and new sterilizing techniques were some of many jumps in the medicine as a result of WWI. http://prezi.com...