[Peace-discuss] Accepting the lie about the causes of wars

[E. Wayne Johnson]

I doubt that you imagine that I am seeking practical political 
expediency (which I seek to eschew), attracting members of the opposite 
sex (I have trouble enough), or gaining fame (or defamation, a sort of 
fame in itself).

Certainly the author Denson quoted is at least libertarian leaning.  
Dickens is not releasing any new material these days, and most of those 
who are alive and remain and are leading the charge against *The Lincoln 
Myth* are identified with libertarian leanings.  Libertarians are not 
against all war and conflict --- they recognize that there is a time for 
"watering the tree of Liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants, 
which is its natural manure".  The pap and BS that are scattered about 
the tree dont seem to produce any fruit.

Denson defines the cost of war in terms of liberty and in terms of loss 
of life.  He could have addressed the loss of property as well and made 
either a "capitalist" or a "socialist" case against war.  There are 
myriad reasons to dislike war, some of which might be absurd, but even 
the "Emily Litellas" who are anti-war by mistake, and those who like the 
pizza or the pizzazz  are comrades in the anti-war struggle.  Our 
reasons are interesting but not essential.

The most important part (to me) of Denson's remarks is not his reasons 
for disliking war, but rather his attack on the "mythology and false 
propaganda about American wars", and his tremendous goal of "preventing 
future wars".
Americans do think that American wars are somehow more noble --- we are 
"spreading democracy" and making the world safe for me and Elmer Fudd.  
Some pathetically misguided individuals like Ms. Palin will go so far as 
to claim a "divine mandate".  Such a force in operation might actually 
be true in one sense, but that total paradigm translocation appears to 
be well beyond the grasp of the fey impostor.

It seems what is missing from the anti-war message is the iconoclasm and 
the stark confrontation with reality.  Expediency has been exchanged for 
the former Enthusiasm, Propriety for Principle.  The Fire and the F**k 
You! seem to have failed.

The popularity of the Lincoln Myth should be no more of a deterrent to 
truth-telling than is the dastardly enthrallment of the yet-developing 
Obama Myth.

One ought not have to have a motivation for telling the truth.  Inner 
truth is said to have its own demands and motivation.

The willingness or unwillingness of the anti-war movement to stand in an 
organized way against the Obama Myth (and the related Lincoln Myth)
is a sort of showdown.  If the salt has indeed lost its savour, it is 
good for nothing but the dunghill  and men will trod it underfoot.
There is no need for manuring or figurative encumbering of the ground if 
there is to be no fruit.

What is yet to be seen is if the anti-war movement is to be relegated to 
the pasture and slaughterhouse destiny of all head-in-the-grass sheep,
or if it will somehow once again find its principled roots in moral 
conviction and love,  rise to the occasion in this "moment of great crisis",
and stand up to the politicians, the opinion-molders, and the 
establishment, in such a way as to save their country.   Again.


On 5/21/2009 11:01 AM, LAURIE SOLOMON wrote:
>
> All very true; but we can turn this on its head and suggest that 
> Denson's comments could also be said about those who present protests 
> against wars -- rarely to do they tell the truth about the real 
> motives for opposing wars.  In both cases, it may be because the real 
> and the not-so real motives are many and tend to blend into one 
> another such that they may not be clearly known.
>
> For example, the fact that you quote Denson's  remarks that "All wars, 
> whether won or lost, tend to centralize and increase the power into 
> the national government, increase the debts and taxes and diminish the 
> civil liberties of the citizens. It is time we begin to see through 
> the myths and false propaganda about American wars so that we can 
> prevent future wars. Americans have a strong tendency to accept as 
> true the false wartime propaganda which now appears in the history 
> books and which is repeated by politicians and intellectuals to the 
> effect that all of America's wars have been just, necessary and noble" 
> would appear to give some indication of why you and other libertarians 
> might be anti-war . Namely, you oppose the centralization and increase 
> in national (and all) governmental power, the increase in public debt 
> and taxes, and what you see as a decrease in individualism as defined 
> in terms of civil liberties for citizens.  The opposition may or may 
> not be on moral and ethical grounds as well; but the use of those 
> grounds tend to be used in a similar manner as the myths and false 
> propaganda which are intended to make wars appear necessary and noble.
>
> Others may oppose wars for reasons of practical political expediency, 
> to attract members of the opposite sex, or to gain fame, although 
> these real motives too may be hidden beneath a veil of noble and moral 
> justifications and claims which serve as useful myths for legitimizing 
> ones position and covering up one's real motivations.   Sometimes it 
> is useful to turn some of these analyses on ourselves in order to 
> reveal our own shortcomings and motivations.
>
> By the way, this type of behavior is not restricted to Americans or 
> American Wars.
>
> *From:* peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net 
> [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] *On Behalf Of *E. 
> Wayne Johnson
> *Sent:* Thursday, May 21, 2009 9:33 AM
> *To:* 'Peace-discuss'
> *Subject:* [Peace-discuss] Accepting the lie about the causes of wars
>
> "The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of 
> specious humbug
> designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern 
> states."  -Charles Dickens
>
>
> Historian John V. Denson writes-
>
> Rarely do any governments, or the politicians, intellectuals and news 
> media who support their wars, tell the truth about the real motives 
> for the wars. After all, the citizens must be convinced either that 
> their safety is being protected from an aggressor or that the war 
> serves some noble purpose, because it's the citizens who fight, die 
> and pay the taxes. The Orwellian historians have falsified the true 
> purposes or motives behind most of America's wars, and have instead 
> given us glorified accounts designed to mislead the public in order to 
> justify the sacrifices the people have made.
>
> All wars, whether won or lost, tend to centralize and increase the 
> power into the national government, increase the debts and taxes and 
> diminish the civil liberties of the citizens. It is time we begin to 
> see through the myths and false propaganda about American wars so that 
> we can prevent future wars. Americans have a strong tendency to accept 
> as true the false wartime propaganda which now appears in the history 
> books and which is repeated by politicians and intellectuals to the 
> effect that all of America's wars have been just, necessary and noble.
>
> This tendency of the Americans to accept this false propaganda tends 
> to prevent them from questioning the alleged reasons for current wars. 
> There is also a strong tendency by Americans to measure a person's 
> patriotism by how much that person supports an American war rather 
> than how much the person supports the concept of American freedom and 
> the ideas of our Founders, which includes a noninterventionist foreign 
> policy
>
> It is time that Americans learn the truth about the real reasons 
> behind our wars, and particularly, the War Between the States, because 
> of the price that we have paid in the long-term loss of liberty in 
> that war. The deaths of over 600,000 American young men in that war is 
> not exactly inconsequential. This high death total is more than the 
> total of all the deaths of American soldiers in all the other wars 
> America has fought.
>

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