Today being Memorial Day reminds me of how contemptible war is. Every war ever fought is a war that should never have been fought.
“So you would just let Hitler go his merry way unchecked?”
No, I’m saying there never should have been an Adolph Hitler in the first place. How do psychopaths, murderers and megalomaniacs get to be leaders of nations, anyway? Once they do, other countries often have little choice but to be drawn into the fray created by one despot or another. If we’re being charitable (and inaccurate), we could say every war is fought by the “good guys” against the “bad guys.” (Of course, each side usually thinks they’re the good guys.) Although there’s a saying that “right makes might,” the reality is right and wrong doesn’t decide who wins a war. It’s war materiel, natural resources, manpower, money and quite often more than anything else, who kills the most people. Doesn’t that strike you as a particularly barbaric way to settle disputes, especially among sovereign nations? When individuals try to settle their disputes in the same way nations do, they are arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned, and sometimes even executed.
Wars often fail to accomplish their intended goals, and many times make things worse. World War I was the war to end all wars, but historians instead say the underlying cause of World War II was – you guessed it – World War I. One single battle during World War I caused more than one million injuries and deaths before the generals and soldiers on both sides decided that particular piece of real estate wasn’t all that important after all. The entire battle was pointless. But imagine the oceans of tears – to say nothing of the rivers of blood – that have been shed over all the battles fought and soldiers killed and wounded in just the past hundred years.
Personally, I think you really have to hand it to soldiers. They deserve respect for putting their very lives on the line to defend others. In the process they often have to leave their home, family and loved ones for extended periods of time. They may come home safe and sound, or horribly maimed, or even in a casket. I admire them in much the same way I admire police officers: they put their lives at risk every day to protect you and me.
Having said that, I want to live in a world that doesn’t need armies, navies, soldiers, bombs, machine guns, hand grenades, tanks, police, and prisons. Call me a dreamer if you want, but I bet that’s the kind of world you want to live in too.