I was moved by a short piece on the BBC news about the last known surviving British soldier to have fought in the trenches of World War I. Harry Patch is 109 years old and never spoke about his experiences during the war until he was 100. He has now made the trip to Passchendaele in Belgium with historian Richard van Emden, who has been transcribing Harry’s memories. His words as one who lived through the experience are worth hearing though I doubt that those that need to hear them will act upon them.
He said:
“Too many died. War isn’t worth one life,”…
He said war was the “calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings”.
He has paid respect equally to the British and German soldiers who died there.
A short video of his visit is here (real player or compatible required).
Historians and politicians like to woffle on about “the lessons of history”. Personally, I doubt whether there is any such thing but if there is, then it is clear that no one learns these lessons. You need no further proof of this than the fact that war is as common today as it has ever been. Like booze addicts, warring nations always say “Never again” after a bloody conflict but before you know it, they are at it again.
While politicians bear the responsibility for starting wars, they are not solely to blame for the generality of violence to which mankind resorts as a traditional problem solving paradigm. Consider for example sectarian violence: this is grass-roots violence, not government-level violence.
If we want to be free of violence and war, it is not enough to criticize our political leaders. We need to look first of all at ourselves. Only when mankind as a whole eschews violence will the horrors of war and terrorism come to an end. Until then, the identity of the party in power when war breaks out is a mere incidental detail. We all have to say no to violence at all levels.
Nicely said ST. I am one of those who despite the evidence doesn’t think that human beings are inherently bad but do the best they can in their given circumstances . It’s a chicken and egg thing I know.I believe that political policies, governments, globalisation and the media have more control and impact on our lives than ever before and so ‘bottom up’ changes are harder to undertake (hence many feel that only violence itself will be listened to).I believe these organisation’s actions shape our actions in a greater way than our actions can now shape or even dictate theirs. You and I will probably disagree as to who should ‘put their house in order’ first. I would argue that these organisations have the greater influence and potential to change things for the better whereas increasingly the ordinary non-aligned individual has not.