Reflection on Class Discussion and Ender's game

There was one line in Ender’s Game that I think should have been discussed in class and seems inconsistent with the novel. Before Ender engages in the final battle he asks Rackham if he could attack a planet with a MDD device. In response Rackham states that the Formics, or Buggers, never attacked a civilian population during either invasion. It does not seem to make sense that the humans would fear their own xenocide if the Formics only launched attacks against military targets. It is reasonable to have feared enslavement or submission, but total annihilation does not seem to be the logical conclusion based on the Formics’ actions. Could the humans not have used the MDD on the mass of thousands of MDD ships to hamstring the Formics rather than bring a sentient species to extinction? This one line seems very out of place in the novel as there is so much fear and paranoia about the Formics and discussion about the survival of the human species. In many ways I feel this reflects contemporary issues with terrorism where we have demonized terrorists to the point that negotiations with any extremists group is almost unthinkable. Whether or not discussion with these groups is a beneficial or moral course of action is another question, but the real issue is that by being close-minded the option of diplomacy is overshadowed by military action, leading to a cycle of violence. Perhaps the humans’ demonization of the Formics could be explained by the diversionary war theory, which is the concept of creating a conflict to push other issues out of the public limelight. By creating the Formics into monstrous antagonists, humanity was temporarily unified and there was relatively stability. It should be noted that just days after the Formics were destroyed this unity fell apart. Ideas like this can be seen in Schmitt’s’ Concept of the Political. This alliance based on fear directly contrasts with the Federation from Star Trek, which is interestingly enough more successful than any alliance mentioned in Ender’s Game. I personally believe that any unification based on the principals of cooperation and self improvement will outlast one based on domination and self preservation. Perhaps that is why organizations such as the European Union have had such great success whereas alliances such as the Non-Aggression Pact between the USSR have ended in ruin and destruction.