The Democratic Victory of 2oo6: What Now?
This is it: Worshipping the Myths of World War II, by Edward W. Wood, Jr.--the book that can point the way to where we should be going in the 21st century. It's not that there have been no peace movements, especially among American youth. And Europe is following a path that is less war-oriented than that of the U.S. But this book contains some important truths that can help to remove our blinders to make us ready for a powerful peace movement.
As for me, without knowing what might come next, I concluded the series of blogs I was writing in an effort to strengthen the Democrats' platform in the election of November 7, 2006. And goodness knows the Democrats will need all the wisdom they/we can get in order to know how to deal with the horrendous problems facing the country now. Nonetheless, and still without knowing exactly where I am going next, the book by Wood does tell me what I want to do today.
Wood argues that, in order to clarify our struggle with terrorism, Americans need to understand what has been wrong with our thinking about the role of wars, notably World War II. We need to rid ourselves of four myths about WWII: (1) war is good; (2) World War II was fought by the Greatest Generation; (3) we won World War II largely on our own; and (4) when evil lies in others, war is the only means to justice.
I think he's right. Just a couple of comments. It's okay for those of who lived through the Great Depression and were victorious in WWII to feel good about it as we reach the end of our lives.
But that's enough. And we really should understand that other countries did much more to win that war than the U.S. did. But surely what is most important is that we be quite clear that war is neither the best nor the only way to resolve disputes.
Just one sidenote from the message of the book. One reason no doubt that we feel good about WWII is that it ended the Great Depression. Now if we would only understand that there is a better way to end depressions. The spending for the war showed us how, but we seem not ready to learn that lesson.
Now back to the message of Worshipping the Myths of World War II. It can help us to see how obvious it is that the world must get serious about the peace movement. And I hope that included in that will be a better analysis of how to deal with terrorism. We have been so intent on using war to fight terrorism that we have been unaware of how a focus on peace can help to indicate more realistic policies.
As for me, without knowing what might come next, I concluded the series of blogs I was writing in an effort to strengthen the Democrats' platform in the election of November 7, 2006. And goodness knows the Democrats will need all the wisdom they/we can get in order to know how to deal with the horrendous problems facing the country now. Nonetheless, and still without knowing exactly where I am going next, the book by Wood does tell me what I want to do today.
Wood argues that, in order to clarify our struggle with terrorism, Americans need to understand what has been wrong with our thinking about the role of wars, notably World War II. We need to rid ourselves of four myths about WWII: (1) war is good; (2) World War II was fought by the Greatest Generation; (3) we won World War II largely on our own; and (4) when evil lies in others, war is the only means to justice.
I think he's right. Just a couple of comments. It's okay for those of who lived through the Great Depression and were victorious in WWII to feel good about it as we reach the end of our lives.
But that's enough. And we really should understand that other countries did much more to win that war than the U.S. did. But surely what is most important is that we be quite clear that war is neither the best nor the only way to resolve disputes.
Just one sidenote from the message of the book. One reason no doubt that we feel good about WWII is that it ended the Great Depression. Now if we would only understand that there is a better way to end depressions. The spending for the war showed us how, but we seem not ready to learn that lesson.
Now back to the message of Worshipping the Myths of World War II. It can help us to see how obvious it is that the world must get serious about the peace movement. And I hope that included in that will be a better analysis of how to deal with terrorism. We have been so intent on using war to fight terrorism that we have been unaware of how a focus on peace can help to indicate more realistic policies.
posted by Gladys at 3:55 PM
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