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Originally Posted by dksuddeth
will, was this a tacit admission that the threat of violence is a deterrent to violence? or the threat of war is a deterrent to war?
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I think you know me better than that. Even as a last resort, I don't threaten or commit violence if I have anything to say about it.
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Originally Posted by The_Jazz
Every single one of these is political. No exceptions. Again, war is simple politics persecuted by other means. Complete world peace is a fantastic goal and we should all work towards it (in other words, I'm not the defeatist you accuse me of being, will), but let's recognize that the ONLY solution to the problem is political. If you're going to pursue this goal, you also need to realize that violence is the failure of personal politics.
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I'm glad to hear you're interesting in working towards 'world peace' (a term that's been used considerably by beauty queens, for some reason). War would be the result of a failure of politics.
Pan, I wouldn't have expected you to be so pessimistic about this. A lot of my inspiration comes from Lennon and Ono. An end to war does not mean an end of the understanding of war. We have history to look upon for lessons, and war could just be a cautionary tale for generations after the last war. Also, you act as if war is the spice of life: it isn't. I've not been directly in a war, but I've done it vicariously through all of my friends who are currently in or have been in the military. I know enough about it to know that it destroys souls as well as lives. Several people I know have PTSD. You don't need PTSD to appreciate what peace means. Maybe I should ask you this: have you ever murdered anyone? Then how do you know what it means not to kill anyone?
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Originally Posted by irate
a world without war would have to be one of COMPLETE ideological hegemony. it would, by necessity, be a world of uniform and lobotomized thought.
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I don't commit war, but I have free thought. We just need to lobotomize the want to kill another over an idology, if anything. I'd hardly call that a loss.
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Originally Posted by Telluride
In that case I won't agree that peace is inherently better than war. I value my rights more than I value peace.
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Your right to wage war? Because that's the only right I'm talking about. I'm not suggesting taking anything but that.
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Originally Posted by Telluride
Why shouldn't they have feared the USSR? How many millions were killed during Stalin's purges? I wouldn't trust that sort of nation, either.
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I'm talking about the insane fear of communism. That was, by my understanding and from reading on the subject, what kept the alliance from forming before Germany started attacking.
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Originally Posted by Roachboy
if war is an expression of "human nature" then no=one is responsible for it.
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This is what I've ben trying to say. Thank you for articulating it.
War is not a part of human nature any more than rape or murder.
Anyone can choose not to wage war.