Friday 6 September 2013

In wars, most people lose

If we want fair play, we need to start recognizing losses on each side of every divide. Next year, the  Centennial of the beginning of World War One will be commemorated. One man was assassinated in Sarajevo, then part of Serbia, and suddenly all hell broke lose and war spread across Europe and beyond. The system of alliances was the fuse that led to a dramatic explosion that killed tens of millions.

People talked about Patriotism, Heroism and Glory. If you look at the roots of events that caused such mayhem called World War One, there was nothing Patriotic, nothing Heroic and nothing Glorious and out of the bloodshed of World War One came World War Two, generated by accumulated resentment and hatred and once again people went to war and more bloodshed and more destruction followed.

We shouldn't fool ourselves. There has never been Peace. Hardly a year has gone by after the official end of World War Two during which there hasn't been a war or a conflict of some kind. There are warmongers everywhere that try to get people excited in order to create another war and then another and another one when the previous ones have not ended and they will be ready and enthusiastic about having salvos to honour the dead giving folded flags to the relatives and building monuments to remember the massacres they produced.

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