Why Am I a Peace Activist? Why Aren't You?

[upstatecajun]

More than any other description, except for perhaps husband and father, I have been for the past six years a peace activist. Yet, I hesitate on the question of how to tell my personal story of experience with war. I recently visited Afghanistan briefly, in order to speak with people who have experienced war. I've spoken with many U.S. soldiers and non-U.S. victims of war. But I have no experience of war. Being in Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, doesn't change that; by the time a crime had been transformed into a war, the war had been moved elsewhere.



I know a Vietnam veteran who opposed that war but grew so tired of being told he wasn't qualified to do so that he joined up. When he got back, and for decades since, he's been opposing wars with the benefit of the aura of someone who knows war. I don't have that, and I certainly do not want it. I value war opposition by those who have known war, but I value other war opposition as well. And I imagine we can all spot the fatal flaw in any proposal that would have people experience wars before they could oppose them. In 2006 a congressional candidate and Iraq veteran in Ohio who was speaking on a panel with me urged military "service" on all politicians so that they could oppose militarism with greater knowledge of the military. Raise your hand if you think that would work.



So, the obvious question is probably how I became a peace activist. To my mind, however, the question has always been why anybody is not. I understand there are not a lot of job openings for professional peace activists, but there are unlimited part-time volunteer positions.

http://www.liberalohioan.com/Swanson-PeaceActivist.html

[phasma ex machina]

1. k&r