FinishMySong Blog

I believe sincerely [that] as soon as people want peace and they’re aware that they can have it, they will have it. The only trouble is they’re not aware they can get it. They really think it’s inevitable the way things are; there’s nothing they can do, ya’ know. But they have all the power…. The people have the power.

I think the words above, spoken in interview by John Lennon more than 30 years ago, still ring true to this day. It makes sense to me that there is no reason for us to turn to violence in order to solve our problems. It has been proven time and again that violence breeds violence – buying into the game might seem like the only sensible option for the sake of self-preservation in the here and now but it also condemns us all to another round of the same crap we’ve had to put up with throughout human history. The cycle of violence and pain can be broken, though – John believed this and so do I. You may say that I’m a dreamer but I’m clearly not the only one.

To me the response I often get to my announcement that I’m a pacifist is telling: mostly people bring up the second world war and ask me what I’d have done if I’d lived through that time; if I’d have accepted the inevitable label as a deserter along with the knowledge that I had in effect assisted the German efforts to conquer Britain. They ask leading questions about how it would have been if Hitler’s Nazi party had successfully overtaken Europe and they suggest that pacifism wouldn’t have helped the world a great deal back then so, by extension, they claim that the men of war are responsible for the relative peace that we enjoy today. Now, I’m no holocaust denier but it’s got to be pointed out that history is always written retrospectively – it’s all well and good to look back at the 20^th Century and conclude that we fought the good fight, but the fact is that when the allies in Europe drove the Nazi’s back, they had no idea about the atrocities that were going on in death camps like Auswich. British troops did not die to save little Jewish kids, but to look after their own roost.

Not that this ultimately makes any difference because the peace we all celebrate on Nov 11^th is a false one anyway – wars continue to be waged and people continue to fall in a storm of bullets, by their brother’s knife or in explosions that defy any logic. The men of war who stood up in 1939 have not won that war because the fight goes on and people continue to die in their thousands, maybe not in Europe but the disease is still very much rampant throughout our world… so what did WWII actually achieve? The same as any other fight, I guess – it made sure that we’re alright, Jack.. at least for a while.

And this is the crucial point that so many seem to miss about the pacifist view: it is not about surrender any more than it’s about cowardice. And there’s one simple reason for this – that the ideal of pacifism crosses all political and ethical barriers. It doesn’t matter who is right and who is wrong. We all think we’re right anyway so there’s little to distinguish between us. It is simply to accept that war is not solving anything so people – ALL people – need to lay down their arms and find a way to get through this life without violence, for it will never achieve anything. As Lennon said so many times, we’ve tried war and it doesn’t work. So, why not give peace a chance?

Sure, if the whole British army had decided not to bother fighting Hitler’s ongoing offensive then this part of the world might be very different right now. But, what if the German army rejected the plan to fight for whatever cause their politicians were pedalling that day? Now, that really would have made a difference!