Give peace a legitimate chance

I had a minor philosophical revelation over spring break. \nOn the first Saturday of break, I was at a friend’s house, and she demanded that I watch a movie. The movie was “The U.S. vs. John Lennon.” It’s a documentary about the United States government’s efforts to silence and later deport John Lennon as he became an outspoken voice against the Vietnam War and an advocate of world peace. \nOne of the first things I realized while watching (other than that I can do a pretty good Richard Nixon impression) was the pure absurdity of the situation. The United States was supposedly at war to halt the spread of communism and preserve freedom. At the same time, Nixon and the government were trying to kick a man out of the country for exercising that freedom.\nI suppose that shouldn’t be all that surprising, though – it was Richard Nixon.\nThe main thing to me, though, is what Lennon was talking about: peace. It seems that whenever somebody speaks out about peace, that person is attacked, and that makes very little sense to me. How can a person rationally oppose peace? How can somebody prefer a life of violence and strife to one of tranquility?\nIn reality, those who oppose people like Lennon are not opposing peace – they are protecting their own power. Lennon’s calls for peace ran counter to Nixon’s Vietnam agenda, so he was dangerous and had to be neutralized. People are willing to sacrifice peace in the name of power – whether to protect it or to increase it.\nWith the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq this past Tuesday, it seems to me that now is a very opportune time to consider peace. It seems the world is only getting more and more divided and dangerous, instead of advancing toward a condition under which all can live happily. War cannot bring peace – only an end to war can. Some wars through history have accomplished societal goals – the end of slavery, the liberation of those oppressed by Nazi Germany – but there isn’t really anything that war alone can accomplish, other than death and destruction. \nIn 1969, during a personal war protest, Lennon said, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” Throughout human history, I can’t think of a single time when that seriously happened. Our existence as a species has pretty much been a nonstop stream of conquering, subjugating and destroying. Peace has never really been given a chance to flourish. What if it were given a chance? What if there were no reason to worry about national defense? What if the money spent on Blackhawk helicopters and cruise missiles could be used to build libraries and schools or cure diseases?\nConflicts can be solved rationally – war is not necessary, and in most cases it solves very little. Peace is possible. Somebody just needs to take the first step. Some nation needs to make a real commitment to peace, and encourage the rest to follow its lead. \nWe all need to truly give peace a chance.