WAR OR PEACE?
Posted by anthonynorth on January 7, 2008
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What’s on today: Is war inevitable for as long as man is human? … PLUS … Britain is getting overcrowded; what to do about it? UK energy prices rocket – are we mad?
YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY
WAR OR PEACE?
I’ve pondered on a difficult question recently. It is this. If I had a choice between a world that had war, and one that had only peace, which would I choose? At first the answer seems obvious, but is it?
What would the world be like if there was no war, only peace? I’m reminded of Orsen Welles in The Third Man, where he pointed out all the wars caused by Germany – which gave so much art, music and philosophy.
Then he mentioned peaceful Switzerland, which gave us the cuchoo clock!
This is the problem – we are human, and we excel, because of passion. And as a coin has two sides, so does our passion.
So there we have it. Without the passion, the antagonism even, that leads to war, would we be able to carry on the ‘good’ – the brilliant – that is so much what it is all about to be human?
Maybe war is something we have to accept.
But it is so difficult to do so; so difficult to accept as inevitable. So is there another way – a way that can offer hope for the future of mankind?
I think, rather than attempting to banish war, we should instead attempt to further moderation. After all, it is when moderation goes that politics turns to warfare. So maybe that’s it. We need to learn how to be moderate. Because moderate people tend to be peaceful, but still have the capacity to excel with their passions.
© Anthony North, January 2008
CROWDED BRITAIN
Britain is about to overtake Holland and Belgium as the most crowded country in Europe. According to the Office for National Statistics there are now about 620 people per square mile …
… read more …
SHOCKING
So npower have hiked energy prices again. Gas goes up 17% and electric 12%, squeezing many in the UK dry. And it won’t be long before all the power companies go the same way. Oh boy, they really are treating us as fools …
… read more …
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Selma said
I have never considered a world without war before. War has been a part of human history for so long that it is difficult to imagine a world that knows only peace. I’d like to think that humans could successfully quash their warlike tendencies if given the option but I wonder if all of us would if we could. Until faced with that proposition I agree that moderation is the way to go.
anthonynorth said
Hi Selma,
The fact is, history began with ‘civilisation’, and the dual impulses of war and the arts. They are so worryingly linked. Yet, less than 1% of 1% of a population usually starts a war – about the same percentage of those involved in the ‘arts’.
What a funny species we are.
Oh, for moderation!
Twilight(Ann) said
I tried to write a short story which included the vision of a civilisation where violence and war had been “bred out” of the population. I came to the conclusion that by breeding out war and violence, passion (sexual and other) would also disappear. I saw a peaceful but colourless world almost free of contrast.
It’s a hard thing to have to say that war is “a necessity”, but it’s not something we have a choice about. Violence seems to be a part of the human makeup, there’s no getting away from that. The best we can hope for, as you say, AN is that human instincts might evolve further, and towards moderation.
anthonynorth said
Hi Twilight,
I’ve thought about a society without war and come to a similar conclusion to you. I’d add another factor. Without experience of good AND bad, how would we know what is good?
Would lack of experience of the bad make us amoral in character? And would this be a good thing or not? I’d say the latter.
poseidonsmuse said
Amen Anthony.
anthonynorth said
Hi PM,
I take it, from this, that you’re in agreement with me.
Amen to that
rhosie said
i think war will always be invitably in the world.For as long there still some people whom hunger for power and wealth.Too bad,because of this lots of lives suffer….
Peace is possible if we only humans have a give and take relationship……
Thanks for your post….
anthonynorth said
Hi Rhosie,
One day we may work it out, but hopefully we’ll do so by retaining our passion for creativity.