According to Hobbes, man is governed by a need to dominate and greed. If you look at what has been going on in the world over the last few months, it would seem that he was right. There is not a day goes by when one country isn’t at war with another, or one section of a country is fighting its neighbour. Some wars seem to go on forever and slip off the front pages of the newspaper. Try counting them.
Let’s be clear though, it isn’t countries that go to war but people. It is governments or groups that pick up arms for whatever cause is just and there are always plenty of injustices to get excited about. Some people want to assert their control over you by masquerading behind a belief system or want what somebody else has. Domination and greed!
I have always considered myself to be a pacifist as I am of the firm belief in the sanctity of human life. I don’t believe that anyone has the right to take the life of another, even more so when they are innocently caught up in a conflict. Nor do I believe that war ever solves anything. You may be able to cut the head off the hydra but you cannot change people’s opinions by bombing them. The opposite is often true, war often firms people’s resolve.
Yet I am conflicted. If this country is attacked and my family is put in peril then I will not be able to simply stand by and watch. I guess I don’t want to be part of an aggression but will want to be part of a defence. Of course this is a very tenuous argument. As the saying goes, attack is the best form of defense and in a conflict, all views are tenable.
If need be, I would want to do something. In the vernacular I am no longer of ‘fighting age’ yet have many skills and experiences that could be drawn upon, especially in logistics and technology.
Humanity is complicated. I can still be a pacifist yet defend my kith and kin, even if I don’t believe in the cause.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 