Look, I'm on the side of the 'good guys' in this. Honest. I, too, am in favour of the abolition of war. Could war be abolished? I don't know but I hope so. On the other hand, I'm fed up with reading the kind of pieces in favour of the abolition of war that scarcely even mention one of the principal difficulties, let alone propose a solution to it. Another in this line is the post at Comment is Free by Brian Lehrer. To save you the trouble of reading it all, I will give you pretty much what you need of it in two excerpts. Referring to John Horgan, Lehrer writes:
He thinks humanity can abolish war, in part because we abolished slavery. If slavery was such an ordinary part of human culture that it was accepted as a given in the Bible, but today, no nation or person could ever admit they hold a slave, then culture could change enough to abolish war, too - and maybe, more quickly than we think.
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To end war, just advocate for the unacceptability of war. In all countries, at all times, especially when tensions rise.
The clue to what might be missing here can be summed up in a single word: slavery. Lehrer may not have noticed this, but slavery is not yet at an end. It may be illegal practically everywhere, but the practice is still with us. One of the reasons it is, is that some people profit from it and therefore keep the practice going.
Now, let's come back to war. If all the good people of the world oppose war and even make it illegal, what happens if someone, that is some leader or bunch of leaders, some country or bunch of countries, comes or come along who or that are in a position to wage war and have a mind to do so? Prison may be a potential answer to would-be slave traders and slave owners; but prison isn't, or isn't always, or isn't quickly enough, an answer to would-be makers of war. How, in the last resort, are the war-makers to be stopped other than by the threat of defensive war and, if it comes to it, war itself? There may well be an answer to this, but if you're out to abolish war, at least admit the question.
That everyone will by 'then' love one another and turn good is not necessarily a convincing way around this. (Thanks: RB.)
