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Abolish The War
By Dr Arvind Kumar
War has wrought immense destruction and complicated problems rather than solving them. Two World Wars fought during the Twentieth Century failed to consoidate forces of peace and the continued small wars in the Middle East, North Africa and some parts of Asia are causing massive damage without any tangible outcome. America’s long, drawn-out war in Iraq has encouraged drug and alcohol abuse in the ranks, and the associated misdemeanor offenses, have risen alarmingly in the nine-year course of the war. Sexual assault tripled in the period 2001-2009; and so did suicide.
The institution of war seldom helps in solving problems. It is ironical that competition, violence and war are still considered “normal.” It’s rare to spot nonviolent, alternative methods, since they are so rarely featured in mainstream media. It is well-know that war causes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and its variant recently uncovered by psychologist Rachel McNair that she calls PITS: perpetration induced traumatic stress. Simply put, when we do violence against others, we are in some psychological way hurting ourselves—and that pain is becoming more evident as the patina of glory surrounding war wears off. Michael Nagler suggestes three alternatives to avoid war:
· living more lightly on the earth, since most wars today are fought over its diminishing resources;
· diplomacy, mediation, and international institutions that can keep disputes from turning into wars; and
· nonviolent mechanisms to deal with the wars that nonetheless break out, like the unarmed interventions just mentioned that are helping to reduce violence in trouble spots all over the world now.
