Everyone Talks About World War I, But No One Does Anything About It

Saturday was the hundredth anniversary of the assassination that marks the beginning of World War I, and predictably the media was full of coverage. The stories will probably continue for the next four years, straight through until the 11th day of the 11th month of 2018, when we will mark the hundredth anniversary of the WWI armistice.

It's a full employment act for the journalists. And everyone will be reading and talking about WWI.

But have you ever wondered . . . instead of just tsk-tsking about "The Great War," why doesn't anyone actually seize the occasion to try to put a stop to future wars?

"I've had enough of war."
Have you?

A new campaign has been launched to build mass opposition to the institution of war. Unsurprisingly, almost no one is really for war. So the challenge now is get the "silent majority" who oppose war to come out of the closet.

Check out the World Beyond War video and support the effort.

Don't just talk about war without end. Do something about it.


Related posts

If you want to hear a really angry antiwar ballad, listen to "Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash:

If you smile at me, I will understand
'Cause that is something everybody everywhere does
in the same language . . . .

(See What Would It Take for Friendship to Trump War? )

Consider the moment in the film All Quiet On the Western Front when the young soldier returns to visit his old high school. The soldier visits the class of the teacher who had goaded him and many of his classmates to enlist in the first place. Encouraged by his teacher to tell about the "glories" of being a soldier, he delivers a damning verdict . . . .

(See Back to School (All Quiet On the Western Front))

We have had a window of opportunity -- nearly 70 years in which the constitution of Japan has explicitly renounced war, pointing the way for the rest of us. What have we imagined we were supposed to do?

(See Renouncing War: An Opportunity Not To Be Missed)

It's a pitch-perfect antiwar tale -- timeless.  You can read about it on the Michael Sporn Animation blog, and watch it in two parts on Youtube. I don't know what part of "The Hat" I like best: the totally convincing dialogue (spoken by Dizzy Gillespie and Dudley Moore)? the original soundtrack they created?  the mythic arc of the story? the exquisite drawings? Where are we going to get more of this kind of work to power the movement to abolish war?

(See Antiwar Animation: A Lost Art? )