This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta.

To be prepared for war is one of the most

effectual means of preserving peace.

Those are the words of the first US President George Washington

in his inaugural State of the Union Address.

George Washington knew a thing or two about war.

Over four decades of military service, he took part in a number of bloody battles.

Among them was the Battle of Trenton in which American colonists

battle German soldiers paid to fight for the British.

The battle was depicted in the 2000 film The Crossing.

In scene after scene, the Americans thrust their bayonets into the Germans.

They kill others with cannon and musket fire.

Their enemies repeatedly tried to regroup but are forced to flee.

Finally, the Germans realizing they cannot win

kneel in surrender.

These scenes, like many depictions of war, can be hard to watch.

But they also force us to face uncomfortable questions.

Doesn't Washington's war and countless others like it prove that the realists

are right. That violence is the most effective means to change.

That power does flow from the barrel of a gun.

This week on Hidden Brain, the surprising truth about what actually produces radical change

and the profound implications for individuals and nations.

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