In the United States Memorial Day is a day to honor all who fought and died in the military. It is also a day to reflect on the immense suffering caused by warfare. Warfare requires that we suspend the normal moral ethic of preserving life replacing it with extinguishing life. It is a difficult topic to broach and attempts at dialogue can lead to accusations of being unpatriotic or anti-military. That is not the case. In fact questioning war can be considered a patriotic duty. Supporting a more peaceful world through non-violent conflict resolution is a life-affirming position rooted in a desire to decrease human suffering and in fact is supportive of military personnel. No one, Americans or anyone else, should ever be subjected to the trauma of war. No one should ever be put in a position where they are required to take another’s life.
In the world that we have created we are led to believe the use of violence is necessary and few believe that violence can be ended in the near future. But we can begin to commit to reducing the violence in the world. I am suggesting that the science and study of peace and nonviolent conflict resolution needs to be a discrete area of study in our school systems from the moment children enter school. We can find a way to coexist peacefully and it begins with creating a culture that supports the discussion. Killing others or initiating any type of coercive suffering in the hopes of resolving a conflict needs to be banned by all people and countries. Warfare needs to be understood for what it is; a collective form of mental illness where people have decided lethal violence is an acceptable method for resolving conflict. It is clear that choosing violence as an option will not lead to peace.
I have offered these quotes before and as they come from someone with credibility; a former member of the military and President. He offers some interesting perceptions that address structural violence. I have also included some sites that provide information about Veterans For Peace, two talks on nonviolence, and the cost of some of the conflicts the US has been involved in:
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”
-Dwight D. Eisenhower
Veterans for Peace on Memorial Day: https://www.veteransforpeace.org/
Erica Chenoweth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJSehRlU34w
Jamila Raqib:
Iraq War Ticker: https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
The Vietnam War Death Toll: https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War Common Dreams – The Iraqi Death Toll: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/03/15/iraq-death-toll-15-years-after-us-invasion