Thursday, May 27, 2004

More on war


Roger Montgomery sent out his newsletter, "The Integrity Journal" today with a thought-provoking quote from Mahatma Gandhi:
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

There's also been a lot of talk on another list I subscribe to, ThetaNet, about alternatives to war, handling terrorism without resorting to war, and the like.

I was reading a marvelous book full of gems, called Understanding, The Universal Solvent by L. Ron Hubbard when I came upon this quote:
True sanity is that condition wherein one is sufficiently intelligent to solve his problems without physical violence or destroying other beings and yet survive happily and prosperously.
(From a technical bulletin called "Predicion and Consequences".

One uses tools one knows and understands. As a country, the US now seems to know few tools other than diplomacy (war by other means), or war, or threats of war, and in the realm of intelligence seems to know only how to pit others against others.

My conclusion: the US needs more tools to deal with its adversaries and with its allies.

But as Dennis Miller says, "But hey, that's just me."


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