“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace,” said George Washington in the first State of the Union address (Jan. 8, 1790). Washington’s maxim has shaped United States policy ever since.
“Preparation for war is the surest guarantee for peace. I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one,” said Teddy Roosevelt.
“So long as anybody’s terrorizing established governments, there needs to be a war,” said George W. Bush.
“A nation is only at peace even if we have to fight for it,” said Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“I want peace and I’m willing to fight for it,” said Harry S. Truman.
“We make war that we may live in peace,” said Aristotle.
“All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means,” said Zhou Enlai (1954).
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones,” said Albert Einstein.
“In fact, every war has been preceded by a peace conference. That’s what always starts the next war,” said Will Rogers.
“The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his,” said Gen. George S. Patton.
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” said Mao Tse-tung.
“The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it,” said George Orwell.
“War! It’s too serious a matter to leave to the military,” said Georges Clemenceau.
At $1 million a minute since 1948, the United States has spent $15 trillion to build up its military might; $400 billion for 2004. Let’s face it, there is no way to peace; peace is the way.
David A. Hancock
Chesterland
Oppressive Tendencies
I’m thinking of the following people while writing this letter: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, John McCain, and Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Carol Tavris, social psychologist and author, states in Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts, “Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they screw up? Why the endless martial quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell?”
Dr. Tavris takes a compelling look into how the brain is wired for self-justification and confabulation. When we make mistakes, we must calm the cognitive dissonance that jars our feelings of self-worth. And so we create fictions that absolve us of responsibility, restoring our belief that we are smart, moral and right—a belief that often keeps us on a course that is dumb, immoral and wrong.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu (and translated by Thomas Cleary) states that there are some basic principles that hurt the people:
- Officials who use public office for personal benefit, taking improper advantage of their authority, holding weapons in one hand and peoples’ livelihood in the other, corrupting their offices and bleeding the people. There are cases where serious offenses are given light penalties. There is inequality before the law, and the innocent are subjected to punishment, even execution. Sometimes, serious crimes are pardoned, the strong are supported, and the weak are oppressed. Harsh penalties are applied, unjustly torturing people to get at facts.
- Sometimes there are officials who condone crime and vice, punishing those who protest against these, cutting off the avenues of appeal and hiding the truth, plundering and ruining lives, unjust and arbitrary.
- Sometimes there are senior officials who repeatedly change department heads so as to monopolize the government administration, favoring their friends and relatives, while treating those they dislike with unjust harshness, oppressive in their actions, prejudiced and unruly.
These things are harmful to the people, and anyone who does any of these should be dismissed from office.
All this reminds me of Lawrence W. Britt’s research of the early warning signs of fascism: powerful and continuing nationalism, disdain for human rights, identification of enemies as a unifying cause, supremacy of the military, rampant sexism, controlled mass media, obsession with national security, religion and government intertwined, corporate power protected, labor power suppressed, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism and corruption, and fraudulent elections.
It sure seems that Edward Abbey was correct when he wrote, “A patriot must be ready to defend his country against his government.”
Solipsism and pandering seem to reflect our present political culture. It’s a scientific fact: scum always rises to the top.
David A. Hancock
Chesterland
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS
I thought that I would change the topic from education to politics. I did some enlightening research on political oxymoronica and discovered Mardy Grothe’s book Oxymoronica: Paradoxical Wit and Wisdom from History’s Greatest Wordsmiths.
Paul Valery, the great French writer and critic, once wrote, “Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.” As with many wry comments, there’s a great deal of truth embedded in his words.
According to Dr. Grothe, politicians throughout history, once in positions of power, have often been inclined to keep citizens away from the affairs of state. This is especially true when citizens are disgruntled and critical of the way things are being done. Sound familiar?
Let’s take a look at and think about some other oxymoronica. “It is characteristic of the most stringent censorships that they give credibility to the opinions they attack” (Voltaire).
In Benjamin Disraeli’s 1844 book Coningsby, he states, “No government can be long secure without formidable opposition.” The weakest governments silence their opposition and, in so doing, have no adversaries to keep them on their toes. The strongest governments give their opposition a voice and, in theory at least, are willing to make changes necessary to govern more effectively, according to Dr. Grothe.
In 1790, the English statesman Edmund Burke said, “A state without some means of change is
