Who are our friends, enemies, and enemies-of-enemies? Who are our worst enemies vs. our lesser enemies? I realize that we humans are limited to imperfect knowledge, but we ought to have an idea of what we are fighting for and what our goal is, to guide our decisions and actions.
I'd like to attempt to answer the question of what we are fighting against/for from a few various perspectives. Please give better answers if you think you can.
"Pure" Christian perspective:
We are not fighting for anything on Earth other than to spread God's message and live peacefully by his commands. Life on Earth isn't of primary importance to us, and we'll turn our cheeks if persecuted. Our goal is to do God's bidding until the second coming when he will judge all humans.
American patriot perspective:
We are fighting against tyranny of the government. Our goal is to live in a sustainable Republic where the government is kept under control, which is to say where power is relatively evenly distributed such that none of us has a major advantage over the other, and we are all free to mind our own business within the constraints of the Constitution.
Nietzschean perspective:
We are fighting against nihilism and other forms of sickness and degeneracy in European man. Our goal is the strengthening of European man through overcoming the sickness and weakness caused to us by 2000 years of Christianity, through a revaluation of our modern day values, through a new social order (perhaps a new "master race" bred out of the Jews since they're the smartest), and so on. We want to embrace life including the passions, violence, war, and suffering; we want new gods and new goals - *not* to settle down and live happily ever after.
Socialist perspective:
We are fighting to eliminate suffering. Our goal is a Utopia that is free of suffering, wherein no one has power over another, no one is impoverished, everyone is equal, everyone is free to pursue whatever they want in life.
Anarcho-Capitalist perspective:
We are fighting to eliminate violence and coercion. Our goal is a simplified reality that is free of coercion, wherein free market capitalism reigns supreme.
Islamic perspective:
We are fighting against the infidels. Our goal is to spread Islam over the four corners of the Earth.
"Pure" Buddhist perspective:
We are not fighting against anything, but we are avoiding suffering. We are living in the flow, embracing reality as it happens, and not forming attachments which are the source of pain. Our goal is to live in an enlightened mental state of bliss.
I think it's a valuable exercise. To give perhaps an interesting example: I've been thinking about this in relation to Trump and his apparent changes since being elected. Some people assert that he's an evil person who was lying the whole time or that he sold out. Another possibility I see is that he may be a true patriot who realized once elected (and having access to more information) that the "swamp" / deep state / whatever were more deserving of his support than he originally thought.
Personally, I tend towards the Nietzschean perspective myself. I think Hitler largely shared it as well, although he obviously had a different idea in mind for the Jews. But, from this perspective, I find myself far more sympathetic towards the "TPTB" than most "patriots" (and many around here): while they think tyrannical government is the biggest evil, I think it might actually be the best outcome and the inevitable, necessary end to the decline that we're waiting for. Granted that the failure of the government to take control and form a new social hierarchy might tell us that the wrong people are in there - so far they lack the vision, courage, and magnanimity to do what's required.