The Drumbeats Grow Louder
Photo credit: taliesin from morguefile.com
More and more frequently, I am seeing public, blatant, explicit statements and calls to action from my fellow Americans urging violence and war here at home. It’s easy to dismiss those as the statements of a few kooks when they are few and far between, but I am running across them more and more frequently. And in far more “mainstream” places than you might expect; most recently, quite literally in the comments section of the Wall Street Journal. And I’m not just talking about one comment by one person, I’m talking about hundreds of comments, there and elsewhere, over a period of months.
These people are calling, quite literally, openly, and explicitly for civil war.
I am calling for people to get a grip and to think things through very carefully.
There’s no denying that large portions of the American population are angry and frightened to an extent that has certainly not been seen in my nearly 42 years of existence. But calling for violence should be the absolute last resort. Ideally it should never, ever happen. But what it won’t be, even if it does happen, is glorious. It’s not possible to be romantic and glorious and wage war at the same time.
Leaving the issue of the morality of war aside, the fact of the matter is that any time there is civil war, innocent people – men, women, and children- are always hurt, always killed, maimed, and at the very least, traumatized and displaced. It is also very difficult in a society like the USA to identify precisely “who the enemies are.” For all of you who are calling for blood it’s a good idea to stop and take a look in the mirror, first, and to try to use your logical faculties. The fact of the matter is that we ALL created this culture which has led us to where we are. We have ALL contributed to thing being the way that they are. Most of us have made poor decisions, been apolitical or disinterested, and we have given ourselves the “leaders” which we deserve. We have voted with our pocketbooks, for example, to say that sports stars are more “important” than schoolteachers, we have allowed our infrastructure to crumble to the point that there are third world countries with better systems in place, all in the name of “we don’t want to pay taxes.” Let’s face it, nobody likes to pay taxes. But, the fact of the matter is – taxes are how we purchase civilization. (to steal from Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes.)
In the face of frustration, rage, sorrow, and fear, it can be very easy to feel that the only option is violence. I urge those feeling that way to stop and think again. There are always other options. The truth with a capital T is that there is no glory in war. There never has been. There never will be. That is not to disparage the service of soldiers, or to demean it in any way. And if you think that there is, I suggest that you spend some time examining some of the very excellent documentary and feature films which have been made on the subject, and see if your opinion still holds. For instance I would suggest Stalingrad
, among many, many others.
There is no question that many things need to change here in the USA, the country where I was born, and the country where my family and most of the people I care deeply about live. These changes need to take place culturally, practically, and methodically in how we operate. I don’t begin to know the fullness of all of the changes needed or how they can come about. But beginning with violence is a recipe for disaster. Please, I pray you, think again. Then think some more. This is a time to get very, very specific about the changes we want to see and about who, precisely, is responsible for the situation that we find ourselves in. (There are many who would fall in this category.) “Shoot ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out,” is an ugly, reprehensible way of thinking. Surely we have evolved beyond that mentality…right?
We can change our society but what that will take is for the American people to work together, to stop with the polarization which prevents progress, and identifying some clear plans of action. Blowing things up and killing people is not a clear plan of action. It is simply terrorism. The last civil war in this country was an ugly, brutal time, that left thousands and thousands dead.
It is tempting to blame all of our problems on the “other,” to think it is all Wall Street’s fault, or the president’s fault, or what have you. There is no doubt that there was some criminal and unconscionable behavior along the way which led us to the grim situation our country finds ourselves in, however. Walt Kelly said it right, in 1970, however:
“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
We absolutely must Learn from history, or we are doomed to repeat it. And the repeating of it will be even more painful than it was the first go-around. If we come to civil war in this country, there will be no glory in it. The tenor of the times seems to be a lot like a woman who wakes up one morning and decides that she doesn’t like what’s been happening in her home, and rather than talking to her family, trying to make a plan of how things can change, or considering what part she herself may have played – instead she sets fire to the place with everyone inside and walks away.
March 13, 2010
Tags: common sense, critical thinking, danger, film, questions, sanity, war Posted in: Insane
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