Hmmm, is mankind addicted to war and, if so, where do we look for a cure?
My father and I took a tour of historic Fort George last week on a day trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The tour guide gave a brief but colourful recounting of the War of 1812 – the war fought between the United States and Great Britain primarily along the Niagara River.
The tour guide described it as the most useless war in history for one obvious reason. The pre-war boundary between U.S. and British territory was established as the middle of the Niagara River. In the negotiations that concluded the war, the boundary was established as… wait for it… the middle of the Niagara River.
In truth, there were other issues between the U.S. and Britain that were resolved. But, as that does not make for as good a story, I can forgive the tour guide for leaving out those details.
It does illuminate the larger question of whether war ever results in meaningful and lasting resolution. Let me say here that I do not intend to minimize the contributions and sacrifices of military personnel past or present. Many have given their lives, often in heroic fashion, in the defense of freedom and democracy. We owe a debt to them we can never fully repay.
For the record, war is defined as “an active conflict that has claimed more than 1,000 lives”. By that definition, there have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of 108 million people killed in wars in the twentieth century. In the period since the Second World War, there have been some 250 major wars in which over 50 million people lost their lives.
Let’s put that figure in perspective. The population of Canada is around 35 million. Hence, in the last 70 years alone, war has wiped out the equivalent of the entire population of Canada once and is halfway down the road to realizing that sad statistic a second time.
There are countless other tragic results of war. Currently, one we are experiencing is the plight of refugees. Millions of Syrians have fled their homeland, to escape the Syrian Civil War, resulting in the largest refugee crisis since World War 2.
Regrettably, the issue of how many refugees Canada should take in has become a bargaining chip in the federal election. The Liberals and NDP are cranking up the rhetoric to condemn Stephen Harper for his firm stand on how many refugees he would authorize Canada to receive.
Giving asylum to refugees is an act of mercy and compassion that cannot be questioned. Unfortunately, it is an act that only addresses the symptoms of war and not the tougher (some would argue unsolvable) question of how to eradicate the practice of it from our world.
I googled “war metaphors” and got 13 million hits. I then googled “peace metaphors” and got a little over 7 million hits. Metaphor has great power. Perhaps if we can flip that metaphor balance in favour of peace, we can make war purely a matter of history.
I’ll give the final words to John F. Kennedy: “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.”
~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.
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Tags: John F Kennedy · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · peace · refugees · Syrian refugee crisis · war · War of 1812No Comments