A Short Defense of My Pacifism Jeff Davis | Vent Section
Manager
Support your country. Good advice. I'll have you know that I believe firmly in the tenets of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and if any one of those rights were taken away from me I would be outraged. In this country, you can be a Neo-Nazi and no one will be allowed to take that right from you. You can openly hate women. You can hold a nationwide boycott of reduced-fat peanut butter if it so pleases you. And you can hate war in all its forms. Here's where I fall in.
Violence is a cycle, plain and simple. When you were younger, I'm sure a lot of you played the game "Punchbuggie," where you jabbed someone in the bicep every time you saw a Volkswagen Beetle of some color. You might have said when you saw one, "Punchbuggie yellow, no punchbacks." Of course, you weren't so insolent to think the person wouldn't punch you back when s/he saw another VW Beetle. You expected to be hit, no matter what you said.
Anti-pacifists are nodding their heads right now. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction," they crow like Madeline Albright in the wake of students immersing her in the critical Socratic process. On September 11, those terrorists bombed us, so we should bomb them back. Might is right. America is punching back.
Again, violence is a cycle. It's illogical to argue otherwise. I'm amused by people who say we need to fight this war for our children. If we fight this war for anybody, our punches are going to invite punchbacks.
With technology becoming more accessible to economies that fluctuate just as ours does, our "foes" will be able to punch back with just as much force as we do. There is a psychological element to every battle, and here both punchers will have the same driving motive for war: "they killed innocent people." And the punchbacks will have punchbacks. And the punchbacks will have punchbacks.
And this, lovers of war, will be what you give your children and your grandchildren. A lifetime of paranoia. In the wise words of a friend of mine, we're not doing it for the children, we're doing it to the children.
Justice must be done to those who committed the crimes against peace in New York City, Arlington and Pennsylvania. But if we're going to show the world how great a country we truly are, we must punch back not with fists, but with our minds. Terrorists may not understand proper discourse, but if you read non-textbook history and government documents, you'll see that we rarely ever take a chance with constructive dialogue in any situation. Read the works of Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky and Ward Churchill. Read the statements of former Attorney General Ramsey Clark. I assure you that you'll find what I'm talking about ten-fold. We live in a very retaliatory nation.
My views on war are certainly radical, and I don't believe in them because I'm a wuss. I believe in them because I love my country. I am a pacifist because I want there to be a country to look at when I wake up every morning. I am a pacifist because I want to be able to wake up. I am a pacifist because I want to walk outside, I want to breathe in the air, and I want to see the sun rise. I am a pacifist because I want a family, because I want grandchildren, because I want a peaceful transition into the next world.
If you feel safer in this world with Trident missiles capable of leveling New York City in fifteen minutes, then I'm going to give you a little assignment.
Gather a large group of people, and tell them to bring loaded guns into your home. Turn the safeties off and point them at each other. Then tell me how safe you feel.
What do you think?
Leave your comments below.
Comments:
By clicking on "Submit," you assert that you are who you represent to be and your
comments abide by section 20 of Radford's Student Handbook (for RU students), and by the Virginia State and Federal laws including but not limited to libel, copyright law, and invasion of privacy. The comments posted on this site are not necessarily representative of the views of Radford University, its
administration, faculty, staff or all of its students. For more information, read our policy on feedback fora.
Comments:
US Marines Quote
"It's God responsibility to forgive Bin Laden......
It's our responsibility to arrange the meeting!"
...United States Marines
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
Brandon, great, great ideas! Thanks for reminding me about Gandhi. I guess Ethics and Society isn't sticking with me as well as I thought. And, for next time, try a paragraph tag!! ;)
Name: Brandon Year: Freshman Comments:
Good afternoon everyone. Mmm... this comments box seems a tad tiny to write an appropriate comment, but I suppose I can try. Do you know that feeling you get when you've watched a very well made film... or book... or umm for example maybe even if someone very close to you dies. That feeling you get in your chest that feels sorta like it's clenching up, n' it's not really a bad or a good feeling... I guess it's just an intense feeling of being alive. That's the feeling that I got from reading this article... n' for that matter any other sorta pacifist article. (There, angry warmonger people... now you know what side I'm on... you can skip my comment if you want to). There are a few things that I should set out at the beginning though, Gandhi wasn't a pacifist, he was an advocator of non-cooperation... which is different than pacifism... or at least in how I understand it. Pacifism is based on the idea that we should not fight... non-cooperation is based on the idea that we should not do what the people that we are fighting with want us to do. In Gandhi's case... it meant refusing to go when the British told him to go, and perhaps more importantly, refusing to fight back when they wanted him to fight back. That's a very important point in this crisis... and make no mistake.. this is a crisis (gosh, I think I’m making my comment a tad too dramatic... but oh well... a nameless commentator can pick it apart at their leisure later).
It is fairly obvious that by killing bin Laden's people, we are giving him more propaganda material for his hatred of us. Hmm, let's look at that more closely. Can any readers out there give us a good reason why Osama bin Laden hates us? I haven't really heard anything good other than "he tells people that it's their religious duty to kill American people"... now... as wonderful as that explanation may be... I think it's total bull-cocky. Most of us live in a western style society... in fact it is very hard to find a non-western style society... even middle eastern societies are being flooded with American influences. Now, we know that in American society, we, as a people as a whole, would not blindly believe our religious leaders if they told us to, say, go out and kill every black person in the United States... because as a western people, it is ridiculous for us to believe that black people are the devil. Now immediately, people will raise their hands and say “but Osami bin Laden’s people are not smart… and they do believe that we’re the devil and they have control over the government so they control what the people think” or something to that effect. I’m very sorry for anyone I might offend, but that idea is simply the acceptance of what we’ve been given by the media… and the media has a history of giving us only what we need of the truth in times when we’re supposed to hate someone.
Think logically on a person to person basis… in almost all cases, in fact in all cases that I can think of, the only reason you hate someone is for a specified reason, they ran over your dog, they flicked you off, they’re always always always talking about some certain thing. The point is they’re concrete reasons. Think hard people, why isn’t there a concrete reason as to why Osama bin Laden hates us? I’m not going to go too terribly far into this, because I’m going to be accused of some conspiracy theory, but the point of the matter is, I’m sure most of us were glued to the boob tube that whole day of the tragedy, and while we sat there our minds were being filled with powerful images, images that could later be used for others advantage. Well, in any case, we need to think hard about the fact that America wants a good chunk of oil producing land in the Middle East. And we also need to think about the fact that since bin Laden would be eternally opposed to us for some reason or another of getting that oil rich land… it might be tempting for some politicians to try to put a new person in bin Laden’s place that will allow us to get that oil, and the further question after that is whether or not it is worthwhile to start a world war three to get that land. Call to attention the alliances that are starting to form about the world… this country is “with” America… and this country is not sure so they are “against” America… now I’m not a terribly good historian… but this smacks of the beginning of the first world war. Of course, this whole situation is hypothetical, but even hypothetical situations sometimes have basis in fact.
Oh dear, I seem to have terribly gotten off track. In any case, my most important point is this. We must know what it is we are fighting against, even if we believe we should not fight. If, as President Bush says, we are fighting all terrorism, not simply Osama bin Laden, we must realize that terrorism itself is an attempt by a minority of people to make a statement because they are unable to make it any other way. I suppose I could make myself understand fighting against Osama bin Laden, although I think it would be a tragic waste of life on both sides, but to fight terrorism is to say that no group of people can fight against something larger than themselves. For a country that stands strongly for all forms of rights to happiness, to say that we will not tolerate a minority group desperately trying to get their point across… that is a very scary idea, almost 1984-esque.
That being said, what do I suppose we should do about bin Laden and his people? Well for one, as some people have said, we need to understand the cyclical nature of anger. The Taliban would not have the weapons it has today had Americans not driven the weapon research mobile at 150 miles an hour. Step two involves spending a decent amount of time learning about BOTH sides of the peace/war discussion. For the pacifists, they must realize that the atom bomb did end world war 2, albeit very messily. For the warmongers, they must realize that men such as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many others achieved their goals without raising a fist. And more importantly, those goals are still being held, while the atom bomb has only resulted in our fearing that the Taliban could use one on us.
But that isn’t something concrete is it? What people want is a step-by-step program that tells us how to either avoid war or cause it. Unfortunately, I can’t give that. The problem is not that we don’t know the right program, the problem is that we are relying on programs to begin with. Jesus and Buddha had a parable about this sort of thing, but I can’t remember Jesus’ right now so I’ll use Buddha’s. Any teaching, any mode of life is like a boat before a raging river. You can use that boat to cross that raging river, but it is foolish to continue to carry that boat when you are past the flood. What that means is that you have to have something more than just a boat when you get to the other side of the river.
If you really want to do something that will make the world a better place where people don’t die unfairly, we need to find something in which it is impossible for that to happen. There must be things out there that take into account the fact that people will be greedy, that people will want to steal, that people will hate, and that people will want to kill… and DESPITE that… still create a world that allows peaceful co-habitation. This thing is not going to be a program, it is not going to be a religion either, it’s going to be something much more. The vast majority of people in the world don’t think of Africans as slaves anymore, not because they go to classes that tell them that, but because it is simply inconceivable for their minds to think that way now.
Do not tell me that such a thing does not exist. We as human beings have been able to generate computers that come close to recreating Life and nature itself, and we come closer and closer day by day. We have harnessed the building blocks of nature and are able to alter genetic code, to help guide the hand of God itself. If we are able to come that close to being an apprentice of God, it is absolutely possible that if we set our minds to it we would be able to create a reasonable facsimile of Eden.
Thank you.
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
What I meant in my comment was that people on both sides are dying. They're humans, just like you and I, and if you think about it, they're our neighbors. It's not like they're from the next fold in the universe. I don't think what bin Laden did was right and I don't advocate sitting on our asses. I think we should go in there and nab his ass and have him extradited to be tried under our laws for crimes he committed in our country. Of course this wouldn't be easy since he's so elusive. But we wouldn't have to kill people in that country who want to die about as much as the people in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon did that morning.
Name: Randy Comments:
I must say that I think Bin Laden knows all too well that people are DYING, espically Americans, his hated foe.
Also, next time we have planes crashing into buildings, or bio chemical weapons threatening us, let us sit and think. Exercise our minds while those around us die. I'm sure Bin laden would laugh.
Name: jen Comments:
i like them too :)
Comments:
All things said, I sure like the graphics in this section. (I ca'nt think of othre nasty thnigs to misspelll and say)
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
You wouldn't have to deal with me. You'd deal with my mother. She and I have very different philosophies, and believe me...you don't want to shoot our cats if she's around. The cops would wipe you up with a sponge. In another scenario, I'd be unable to contain the furies of my burly neighbor who is quite partial to my cats and can hear any gun from an incredible distance. But if I were there, I'd simply have you arrested and hope you receive a fair trial and sentence, and maybe some therapy. It'd satisfy me more than "stopping you" or whatever it is, because in my county, animal abusers receive hard time. If they put people in jail for speeding in Botetourt County, they'd have a field day with someone who killed a defenseless animal, especially one with three legs, put in that position by someone with an affinity for illegal racoon traps.
I know quite well what bin Laden sees, or rather, what he doesn't see or refuses to see. What I see is people dying. Dying. People who love, scream, wish, run and dance just as I do. And they die at the hands of our worst invention. We label them "an expense" or "a target." That's what I see.
And what is being "too much" of a pacifist? The followers of Gandhi walked right into the barricades of British soldiers, and were beat repeatedly. They held hands and walked right up to those sniveling imperialists, knowing they would be smacked in the clavicle bone with the butt of a rifle. And in this style they continued to protest. It got the Brits out. Sadly, nuclear weapons exist even there to this day. I'm sure Mahatma is rolling in his grave. The day that group of Indians left their philosophy of peace, they became another sanctuary for destruction.
Nonetheless, thank you, Paul, for responding eloquently to the article, and with a level head.
To the other posters: no, we were not being pacifists before we were attacked. "Peace" is not so narrowly defined to simply be: "the act of not blowing the hell out of people." We were, directly and indirectly, committing acts of psychological, economic and physical terror on several nations, including Turkey, Colombia and Iraq. I'm sure you've all read the headlines in the papers; you wouldn't have read this article if you weren't interested in the world. There are things they tell you and there are many more things they don't tell you. Like how American corporations help to finance paramilitary groups in Colombia that kill the poor who simply want a reformed work environment. Or how many Iraqis we kill every year with daily bombing runs over there: 300,000 yearly, to be exact. Did you know we knocked out their power grid for an extended period of time? We sent those people hurdling back into the middle ages, flooding their streets with feces-infested water since we destroyed their sewer system, too. And I doubt you read in the New York Times about how a quarter of the SMART missiles we used on the "military targets" missed (I always knew the "miss" in "missile" meant something) their destinations and took out homes, hospitals and schools. Or how in our position on the UN Security Counsel we veto legislation that would, among other things, allow for increased environmental standards for all member nations. Why? Because it's counter to our interests, a.k.a. money. All these things, for me, maybe not for some of you, but for me, are violations of peace. So no, we weren't openly killing anyone with big guns at the time.
Name: Paul Year: Senior Comments:
I can appreciate Jeff's view, but I'm gonna have to disagree with him on this situation. I would rather NOT see us and other countries go to war, but sometimes there is the need to. In World War II Japan decided to play punchbuggie with us, and you know the result of that. There was no cycle. We broke out a can of whoop-ass and the game ended. We were punched first on Sept. 11 and will continue to be punched until the game ends. Bin Laden doesn’t care if the people killed were men, women, or children. He only cares about the people being American. He sees America as being a great evil. Just as strongly as you believe it is your duty not to fight, Bin Laden believes it is his duty is to kill Americans. Both the passive and the aggressive are the same to him. There is no reasoning with him. This is not the first time he has been behind the killing of Americans. He’s not going to apologize or stop on his own. He would have no problem killing you or me. Therefore, numerous countries have joined together to stop him and his organization.
Anything in excess is usually bad. I think being too much of a pacifist or a war-monger is bad. Pretend I extremely hate cats and I shot Smokey. The next two on the list are Tinker and Molly. Would you sit there and watch, or would you try to stop me?
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
All right: to the long-time Whim reader, I admit that I agree with you. These people can post whatever they want. In the long run it shouldn't matter to me. And small insults instead of criticism (voice of reason had good criticism which I will remember, the anonymous posters calling me names had nothing meaningful to say) mean nothing to me. I don't see why you people have be the cyber-bullies and call me names, but do it if it gets you through the day. There's a big difference between criticism and insulting. Comments about my tone in the article are criticism. Calling me a flake or whatever other name you pull off the bathroom stall is an insult. I'm pretty sure this distinction is very clear to everyone. Anyway, I'm letting this go. I am a pacifist, after all.
And good lord, why do you have to make fun of the pet name I have for my girlfriend? I think "snapdragon" is more distinctive than "honey" or "sweetheart." That abuse is just...bizarre.
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
And there is a huge difference between insulting and criticizing. You, anonymous poster, were not criticizing.
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
Jen, I said in my post below that I was "hardly alone." :)
Name: voice of reason Year: Jr Comments:
Weren't we being pacifists when we were attaked??? I'm not saying that pacifism isn't a valid opinion... i'm saying that the approach to speaking your point sorta pushes the ideal that YOU are right... there are many opionions... i don't like war... i dont' want our troops to fight... my best friends are part of this war already.... but i'm saying tha tyou dont' have to be so forcefull with your opinion...
AND YEAH.. I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE *VENT* SECTION
Name: jen Comments:
by the way, for example, i don't think violence should be used either. that's one opinion.
Name: jen Comments:
my god, speaking of cycles...this is one that keeps going and going and going...jeff has a right to his opinion. so does everyone else who posted a comment. yeah, so the comments are rude sometimes. deal with it. jeff, you are not alone in your views of pacifism. thousands of people have the same opinion. so you are not as much of a radical as you say you are.
people were affected by this event in more ways than many can comprehend. families, friends died in the pentagon, the world trade center, in the airplanes. living in new york city isn't easy at the moment. it's so easy for any one of us to say, "getting them back isn't right", but that's only ONE side of the issue. there's politics involved too, which is sad, but true. look at the big picture. yes, every action does have a reaction, and this isn't an easy choice for the people who are actually making it. and since we're not the ones faced with that challenge, we think we know everything about the decisions that should be made.
the growing up can start right here.
Comments:
this IS a vent page where i CAN comment, right? honestly, if you can't stand criticism, this isn't a job for you. you'll never always be liked, get the hell over it
Name: Copy Editor Comments:
why don't you offer some constructive criticism, hmmm? allow me to openly invite you to visit our submit page and see if you can compose anything half as elegant as jeff here has...
Comments:
ya baby, i din't attack what you wrote, i'm attaking you personally, bitch
Name: voice of reason Year: Jr Comments:
jeff, steve, and everyone else
i've followed whim for several years now and i think that the attacks on those who actually comment are unfair. This is to be a forumn of speech and conversation. Whether someoen signs a name, or a psudonym or nothing, shouldn't discout their criticism. I believe it's an comment on the style of the writing... not the content... Some people don't like to hear the minorty cry out about their oppression.
We're all opressed... get over it... pacifist... or not... we're all goign against the grain or one way or another...
GET OVER IT!!!!!!
Name: voice of reason Year: Jr Comments:
jeff, steve, and everyone else
i've followed whim for several years now and i think that the attacks on those who actually comment are unfair. This is to be a forumn of speech and conversation. Whether someoen signs a name, or a psudonym or nothing, shouldn't discout their criticism. I believe it's an comment on the style of the writing... not the content... Some people don't like to hear the minorty cry out about their oppression.
We're all opressed... get over it... pacifist... or not... we're all goign against the grain or one way or another...
GET OVER IT!!!!!!
Comments:
oh i love you my snapdragon
Name:Stevedogg Year: Sophmore Major: Pain In Your Ass Comments:
Hey look you dumb f***, Jeff at least signs his name to his work. You
won't
even step out of the f'in poo closet to sign yours. It's SO damn easy
to
write that shit from behind your little computer. Unless you plan on
saying it to our faces don't bother us with your stupid non
constructive bullshit. I've seen where Jeff's heading. He busts his
ass everyday of everyweek juggling more things than most people
can. Jeff's gonna get a high paying position at some magazine and make
shit loads of more money at his job. You'll just be another cog in a shitty ass machine, easily replaceable and never ever missed when they can your f'in ass.
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
First of all, "mind f***," my mind is no smaller than yours.
Second of all, I'll have you know my grandfather, his father, his father, his father, and his father before him all served in high-ranking military positions for this nation, and countless others around the world. If anyone has respect for these people, it's me. I may not be crazy about what they do, but they are people nonetheless, and deserve the utmost respect simply for having the ability to get out of bed in the morning and risk their lives because, among other things, there are rights to be protected.
But in my eyes...not yours but MINE...it's time for the world to grow up and start acting the way we all say we're going to. America stands all big and bad, saying we're going to be the most advanced nation, the most this the most that but we still pick up our rocks and throw them, thus becoming that which attacked us.
I am in no way asking you to convert to my philosophy. I'm merely asking you to accept that my philosophy exists, and that I am hardly alone. Although it is a constant challenge, I will continue to be a pacifist, no matter what it takes.
Name: April Comments:
I think this is a wonderful article and I agree with it completely! Violence is a never ending cycle and honestly I think it is pointless. Why must we focus on striking back and killing other innocent people (including Americans)?? We should be interested in putting America back together not tearing other nations, as well as our own, apart because of stupid pride.
Name: Mind f*** Year: senior Major: english Comments:
We should strike back with our minds? You saw what happened to the last collective of minds from many nations. We live in a retaliatory nation, remember a few rebels named Washington and Jefferson..they fought so you can have the right to say im a pacifist. You've said it. Now id rather be a country that has the ability to puch back than one that is just a victim. And have a little respect for those that are willing to fight in your place so you can have your wonderful little pacifist mind.
Name: Jeff Year: Senior Major: English Comments:
*yawn* And so are comments like yours.
Comments:
your head at the bottom of the page is so flaky and pointy, just like the your personality. get some style, a life maybe, your shit is so old
Comments:
enough already jeff... we're tired of your shit... get off your horse and walk like the rest of us...
