Random Quote “Veteran’s Day” Wednesday
November 11, 2009
|
Posted by Michael S. Langston
For Veteran’s Day today, we honor the warrior. That person willing to sacrifice so that others can live in peace, even though some of our greatest thinkers only view war as complete folly.
Let’s start with a very short sighted and simplistic quote from Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948), “Non-Violence in Peace and War”:
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
According to this logic – if a totalitarian regime invades a free country, the free country should just take it, because war will be worse regardless of the victor… Not only that, but from just a strict critical thinking view, you never limit your options even in your speech as it constrains the possible outcomes.
Irregardless, for more sense on the subject, John Stuart Mill:
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
& in some ways, there you have the debate still raging today between those who think all war can just go away and those who understand the true hell of war, but are able to sometimes see the necessity.
For those brave enough to see the necessity, take some time out to thank a vet today.
For those unwilling to see, I feel sorry for you.
Categories: Random Quote Wednesday
| 
Tags: Courage, John Stuart Mill, Mahatma Gandhi, necessity, pacifism, Quotations
|
Leave a reply
