OMNI NEWSLETTER PREVENTING
AND STOPPING WARS #1, March 6, 2013.
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace.
My blog: The War
Department and Peace Heroes
Newsletters on Peace, Justice, and Ecology:
Index:
For example: Compassion, International Law, Language,
Literature, Love, Negotiation, Nonviolence, Nuremberg Principles, OMNI
Center.org, OMNI National/International DAYS Project, Public Opposition,
Resistance, Toleration, United Nations, see Index for more.
Schroeder,
Steven. “Mother of All Battles.” PMLA (October
2009). “The pervasiveness of the
assumption that war is necessary calls attention to the question that guides
this essay: whether and how we might
cultivate judgment that is intuitively opposed to war rather than intuitively
resigned to it. This question calls for
an argument that is, first and foremost, an argument about language: the way we
use language controls our assumptions about what is possible. . . .” (p. 1690).
Contents
Horgan: The End
of War
Mueller, Retreat from Doomsday
Center for Nonviolent Solutions
From Smoking to War: Graphic Photos Disgust People
Petition: Convert from War to Human
Needs (Economic Conversion Movement)
Film of Anti-War Protests of 2000s
Dick: Chappelle and
Critical Thinking
Dick: Literature and “Enemies”
Dick: Language and War
Veterans for Peace: Appeal to
UN: Abolish War as Goal
The End of War by John Horgan
[To prevent and end wars we must first know that wars are
not inevitable and permanent.—Dick]
War is a fact of human nature. As long as we exist, it exists.
That's how the argument goes. But longtime Scientific American writer John
Horgan disagrees. Applying the scientific method to war leads Horgan to a
radical conclusion: biologically speaking, we are just as likely to be peaceful
as violent. War is not preordained, and
furthermore, it should be thought of as a solvable, scientific problem—like
curing cancer. But war and cancer differ in at least one crucial way: whereas
cancer is a stubborn aspect of nature, war is our creation. It's our choice
whether to unmake it or not.
In this compact, methodical treatise, Horgan examines dozens of examples and counterexamples-discussing chimpanzees and bonobos, warring and peaceful indigenous people, the World War I andVietnam
Praise for The End of War:
"The best book I've read in a very long time is a new one: The End of War by John Horgan. Its conclusions will be vigorously resisted by many and yet, in a certain light, considered perfectly obvious to some others."
--David Swanson
"I'm heartened by this thoughtful, unflappable, closely argued book. The End of War gives us new ways to understand and resist the specious arguments of inevitabilists and professional weaponeers."
—Nicholson Baker
"Winsomely and persuasively, John Horgan suggests that the world may be headed toward peace. This book is straightforward, drawing on the best scientific evidence available, examining the writings of the best scholars on both sides of these issues. Horgan believes human destiny is not predetermined. Human choices matter. We are encouraged not because of pious idealistic hopes, but because the best evidence demonstrates that the prospects for peace are eminently realistic."
—Dr. James C. Juhnke
"This is a heartfelt and important book, one that largely succeeds: at least, in making its point. Whether it is comparably successful in its deeper goal—changing peoples’ minds—is another matter, although let’s hope that it is."
—David Barash, The Chronic
In this compact, methodical treatise, Horgan examines dozens of examples and counterexamples-discussing chimpanzees and bonobos, warring and peaceful indigenous people, the World War I and
Praise for The End of War:
"The best book I've read in a very long time is a new one: The End of War by John Horgan. Its conclusions will be vigorously resisted by many and yet, in a certain light, considered perfectly obvious to some others."
--David Swanson
"I'm heartened by this thoughtful, unflappable, closely argued book. The End of War gives us new ways to understand and resist the specious arguments of inevitabilists and professional weaponeers."
—Nicholson Baker
"Winsomely and persuasively, John Horgan suggests that the world may be headed toward peace. This book is straightforward, drawing on the best scientific evidence available, examining the writings of the best scholars on both sides of these issues. Horgan believes human destiny is not predetermined. Human choices matter. We are encouraged not because of pious idealistic hopes, but because the best evidence demonstrates that the prospects for peace are eminently realistic."
—Dr. James C. Juhnke
"This is a heartfelt and important book, one that largely succeeds: at least, in making its point. Whether it is comparably successful in its deeper goal—changing peoples’ minds—is another matter, although let’s hope that it is."
—David Barash, The Chronic
SEE REVIEW BY BILL GRIFFIN
This book, originally published in 1989 in hardcover and in 1990 in paperback by Basic Books, can now be downloaded in pdf format without payment: Retreat from Doomsday. 339 pages.
For further information: bbbb@osu.edu
An outline of the argument
Major war--war among developed countries--seems to be becoming obsolete.
War is merely an idea. It is not a trick of fate, a thunderbolt from hell, a natural necessity, or a desperate plot device dreamed up by some sadistic puppeteer on high.
Therefore it can be supplanted--rendered obsolete--if people come to embrace another idea: one holding that, as an institution, war is abhorrent and, on balance, methodologically unwise.
Two notable ideas that have undergone such a transformation are the ancient institution of slavery and the popular and romantic problem-solving device of formal dueling. Both died out because people came to regard them as undesirable, not because they had ceased to be objectively viable or economically effective.
At least in the developed world, war seems to have followed a similar trajectory. Europe, once the most warlike of continents, has now been substantially free of international war for the longest period of time since the
This does not seem to have come about because war became physically more destructive. There have been many instances in the past of wars or patterns of warfare that were essentially annihilative, but this did not cause an effective revulsion against the institution itself.
In fact, despite such experiences, until 1914 war was commonly viewed in the developed world as ennobling, virtuous, glorious, beautiful, holy, manly, redemptive, beneficial, progressive, necessary, natural, and inevitable.
In the late 19th century--only about 100 years ago--this notion was actively challenged on a wide basis for the first time in history by various peace organizations which effectively propagated the view that war was repulsive, immoral, uncivilized, and futile, particularly economically.
World War I--the Great War--played perfectly into the hands of this gadfly peace movement. At its end, its notion that war--or at least wars of that type--should be abolished came to be commonly accepted in the developed world.
World War II in
Whether one accepts that argument or treats World War II as simply an additional learning experience for Europe (and as a terminal one for the distant Japanese who had largely missed the lessons of World War I), the developed world came overwhelming to reject the notion of major war at its conclusion.
The international Communist movement--the chief source of international instability since 1945--has embraced the idea that violence is necessary to overthrow the capitalist enemy. It has, however, rejected major war as a sensible device for carrying out this mission even while fearing--and preparing for--the possibility that the capitalist world might launch such a war against it.
Since neither side in the Cold War ever saw major war as a remotely sensible device for pursuing its agenda, nuclear weapons have not importantly affected history: things would have turned out much the same if they had never been invented. They furnish dramatic reminders of how destructive a major war could become, and they could conceivably be useful in the future, for example if another Hitler should arise. But they have not been necessary to inspire caution among the war-sobered people who have actually led the major countries since World War II. Even at times of crisis, major war has never really been in the cards.
While eschewing major war, the international Communist movement was willing to experiment, somewhat cautiously, with a direct military probe in a neglected corner of the world,
The Communists have also at times been enamored of crisis as a desirable method for advancing the cause and for enhancing disagreement and conflict among the capitalist enemy. After the traumas of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, however, they substantially abandoned the device as too dangerous.
Revolution and revolutionary civil wars continued to be romantically embraced by the movement--particularly by the Chinese--as natural, desirable, and inevitable devices. The
In the meantime, however, and in the midst of a dangerous ideological clash with the Soviet Union,
The
Burdened by such questionable adventures (including one in
Major war, like slavery and formal dueling, remains physically possible, and it could come about if some aggressive Hitler-like world leader came to believe (quite possibly correctly) that large crises and military ventures need not necessarily escalate to massive war.
However, major war has been substantially discredited over the last century. Moreover, two important ideas have substantially taken hold: prestige and status principally derive from economic prowess (a quality often disparaged as debased and disgustingly materialistic by warlovers in the past); and war is a singularly ineffective and undesirable method for attaining wealth.
As a result, major war may be becoming truly obsolete--subrationally unthinkable. Countries like the once perennially hostile
War remains rather common outside the developed world--indeed the book was written while a war between Iran and Iraq was raging there, not to mention some 30 civil wars In the last few hundred years, however, most major ideas have tended to flow from the countries we now call "developed" to the rest. It seems possible--particularly with the Cold War out of the way--that war aversion will follow a similar path.
Even if peace--the absence of war--comes to infuse the world, conflict, disharmony, turmoil, trouble, and contentiousness will likely continue in fulsome measure. Unlike war, these qualities do seem truly to be natural and inevitable.
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If you're not outraged,
you're not paying attention!
Read what Public Citizen has to say about the biggest
blunders and outrageous offenses in the world of public health, published
monthly in Health Letter.
“Court Allows Big Tobacco to Hide the Graphic Dangers of
Smoking” PublicCitizen Health Letter, January
2013. Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D., Editor
Studies have proven the
effectiveness of warning labels and pictures on cigarette packaging to deter
people from smoking. All over the world
this method is being employed to save lives and money. But in the US
US leaders and
the corporate media must agree with the judge, for realistic combat pictures
are seldom shown. The Bush
Administration even forbade photos of caskets.
Photos of the effects of bullets and bombs will surely produce the same
revulsion as photos of the effects of smoking.
Agitate for truthful, full reporting of US wars. --Dick
WARS UNNECESSARY, CONVERT TO
HUMAN NEEDS
[haw-info] Jobs-Not-Wars Campaign
haw-info-bounces@stopthewars.org on behalf of Marc Becker
[marc@yachana.org]
To:
haw-info@stopthewars.org
Attachments:
Inbox
Monday, December 17, 2012 9:03 AM
Send
President Obama and Members of
Congress a Strong Clear Message
Congress a Strong Clear Message
On Election Day, the American
people made their voices heard.
We rejected austerity schemes
to reduce the deficit at the expense of working people, the middle class, the
poor, children, and the elderly.
We want those who caused the economic crisis to
pay to fix it. We rejected more tax breaks for large corporations and the
wealthy. We want the super-rich and giant corporations to pay their share and
government to stop coddling the greedy and neglecting the needy!
One of the best ways to reduce
the deficit is to put people back to work. It’s time to invest in our people
and our communities to create stable jobs at living wages, rehabilitate our
nation’s infrastructure, repair the social safety net, restore government
services and programs that serve the needs of people and communities, and
develop a sustainable planet for future generations.
We want the war in Afghanistan
We want an economy, government
and nation that work for ALL of us, not just some of us.
Keep the pressure on – remind
Congress and President Obama that they work for the American people.
We will present the Jobs-Not-Wars
Petition to
Congress & President Obama around the time of the Inauguration.
Forward this email to everyone
you know – ask them to join you in signing the
Jobs-Not-Wars Petition. Post it to your Facebook page
and Tweet about it to your social network. There is strength in numbers. Don’t
let our elected officials forget who they represent.
We can, and must do better for
all Americans.
Thank you.
The Jobs-Not-Wars Campaign
Participating Organization:
Historians Against the War
Participating Organization:
Historians Against the War
…………………………………………………………………………………………
IT’S
TIME FOR PEACE AND JOBS!
The full text of the petition:
The full text of the petition:
Mr. President and Members of
Congress:
During this period, when people
of faith and secular people alike reflect on the year that is ending and
look forward with hope to the year ahead, it is a time to put aside differences and enmities to celebrate
our universal values.
look forward with hope to the year ahead, it is a time to put aside differences and enmities to celebrate
our universal values.
It is in this spirit of
humanity and hope that we call upon you to redirect your efforts and federal
resources to:
· End the war in Afghanistan
· Create good jobs at living
wages: invest in our communities and our people to grow the economy and put
people back to work;
· In communities devastated by
hurricane Sandy
· Train and hire veterans, the
unemployed, and youth from historically disadvantaged communities to perform
cleanup and reconstruction as a part of a broader national jobs program to
rehabilitate inner cities, build affordable energy-efficient homes, repair/replace
public infrastructure, and develop sustainable manufacturing for the 21st
Century.
· Redirect our nation’s resources
from war and uncontrolled Pentagon spending to fund social programs and public
services, protect and improve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, repair
the social safety net, meet the challenge of climate change, and reduce poverty
and inequality.
· Rely foremost on determined
diplomacy and patient negotiation, rather than military power to respond to
international disputes, differences or conflicts;
· Require those at the top of the
income ladder, giant corporations and financial speculators to pay their fair
share of taxes.
We ask that you summon the
personal courage and moral fortitude to transcend partisan differences to serve
the common good and public interest.
Give
peace a chance!
We need
jobs not cuts! Work not Wars!
THE ACTIVISTS, anti-war film,
see the trailer if you are short of time
right now, and full film when you have time.
Dick
For a
limited time, an hour-long documentary on the peace movement of the 2000s, The Activists, is available to anyone to download for free at this
link:
https://vimeo.com/49732898. Thanks to Michael Heaney for calling our attention
to this film. (from HAW)
QUESTIONING, CRITICAL
THINKING
Capt. Paul K. Chappelle, U. S. Easton
“For the vine of ideas to truly grow, we must question ideas
instead of blindly accepting them”
(152).
“…one thing I can and must tell you is that we should always
question and think critically when anyone advocates war” (15).
“…questioning is absolutely necessary to end war” (16).
Chappelle quotes diverse authorities:
General Omar Bradley:
“Our only complete assurance of surviving World War III is to halt it
before it starts” (16).
George Orwell: “One
of the most horrible features of war is…the war propaganda….” (16).
His highest praise is for his West
Point education.
“West Point emphasizes the
importance of the Geneva Conventions” (14).
“West Point taught me to
question every order I am given” (14).
“ In the army blind obedience is very dangerous. At West Point ,
I was taught to question every order I am given to determine whether it is
lawful and to ensure that it does not violate the Geneva Conventions” (13).
“At West Point I was taught
that torture is never justified…” (13).
(Unfortunately, Chappelle does not make a strong case for the ethical and legal
education provided at West Point . His testimony is correct, the Geneva
Conventions were taught there. But its
effectiveness he fails to demonstrate.
Two of his strongest examples of soldier rectitude—Capt. Hugh Thompson,
who tried to stop the My Lai Massacre, and Marine General Smedley Butler,
author of War Is and Racket—were not
graduates of West Point. General Bradley
was. Chappelle’s unsupported praise for
West Point as the foundation for his argument
for critical thinking among military officers as the chief prevention of war is
a pitiful sand castle. Where is the
record of West Point officers “questioning
every order” and refusing to participate in torture all the way from privates
to generals? Perhaps there is such a
record, but he cites none. After his uncritical
opening chapter, a reader might be disinclined to read more. Dick)
Hi VFP.
Below is a link to a World Federation of United Nations Associations survey about what priorities the UN should include in its next development campaign, now that the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty, infant and maternal mortality, etc. by 2015 very clearly won't be met.
There is a long list of human needs among which you must choose 6, but at the end is a slot for your own addition, and I urge you to write in "Abolish war". Then after you finish the survey you will be given an opportunity to write in why you voted as you did, and I wrote that I added Abolishing war as my priority because war is the biggest destroyer of human society and the environment, and the biggest thief of funds to meet human needs.
There have been other attempts to persuade the UN that abolishing war must be
included in development concerns. This is just one small way to push that effort a
bit more. I hope you will participate.
Peace,
Ellen Barfield, Head VFP Representative to the UN Department of Public Information
Join the conversation and take part in this online UN survey to select the six priorities
that you believe should set the next global development agenda.
Below is a link to a World Federation of United Nations Associations survey about what priorities the UN should include in its next development campaign, now that the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty, infant and maternal mortality, etc. by 2015 very clearly won't be met.
There is a long list of human needs among which you must choose 6, but at the end is a slot for your own addition, and I urge you to write in "Abolish war". Then after you finish the survey you will be given an opportunity to write in why you voted as you did, and I wrote that I added Abolishing war as my priority because war is the biggest destroyer of human society and the environment, and the biggest thief of funds to meet human needs.
There have been other attempts to persuade the UN that abolishing war must be
included in development concerns. This is just one small way to push that effort a
bit more. I hope you will participate.
Peace,
Ellen Barfield, Head VFP Representative to the UN Department of Public Information
Join the conversation and take part in this online UN survey to select the six priorities
that you believe should set the next global development agenda.
END PREVENTION AND STOPPING WARS NEWSLETTER
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