John Korber writes:
> Martin wrote:
> >You can say it, but then you must also say these things.........
>
>         War and violence should always be opposed. You have to work
> to get all people to agree to that. Any support of it will only make
> the likelihood of the continued use of violence in the future
> increase. There is always the possibility of ending violence. Why
> support anything else, but peace? Working for peace through peaceful
> nonviolent activism doesn't imply passivity.

But I don't believe that war and violence should always be opposed.  I
have tried to believe it, but I don't believe it.  If I encounter a
man beating or raping a child or a woman, I will use force to stop
him.  That is a use of violence.  I'm not going to try to justify it.
I accept that it is using evil to stop evil, but it is a situation in
which I would not hesitate to use it.  I have come to believe that
this comes partly from instinct and partly from conscience.  I am not
trying to use biology to avoid personal responsibility.  I simply mean
there is a biological reaction in my brain chemistry that urges me to
act with force in such situations.  I can conjure it by imagining
myself in such a situation.  The conscience part is probably learned.
I would feel guilty if I did not act immediately and the child or
woman suffered because of my inaction.

I'm not trying to compare the above example with the situation in
Kosovo.  I am only trying to illustrate how I recognize that I am not
an absolute pacifist.  I have come to believe that absolute pacifism
is as non-human as is aggression.

I think the "line" between situations in which violence should be used
and situations in which violence should not be used (for me) will be
the kind of situation where I would hesitate rather than act
immediately.  In the above situation, I would act immediately upon
recognizing the situation.  It would still be using evil to stop evil,
but so be it.  In the situation in Kosovo, I would hesitate (and there
was long hesitation by NATO), so I would not use violence there.

> >Peoples' choices are involved
> >every step of the way.  Some of those choices are NATO choices; some
> >are Serb army choices.  Some were IMF choices.
>
>         What choices do you have? What things can you do to further
> peace?  It's obviously something you are concerned with. You
> suggested I go to Kosovo and teach peace. Actually people I work
> with have already been there, as well as to Iraq. They left me with
> plenty of work to do here in NYC. If you are interested in helping
> out with a peace causes, you can make a big difference in someone's
> life (and improve your Norwegian listening and speaking skills) be
> contacting:

> Tore Vik
> [log in to unmask]
> [log in to unmask]
> With greetings from Tore Vik and the
> Rainbow Antiracist Organisation Troms
> ++47 77619950  ++47 907 32685
> homepage:http://www.student.uit.no/regnbuen/index.html

I have noticed the organization in the news.  But I don't want to do
that work.  I had already decided to send money to the accounts
advertised on Norwegian TV, which include the Red Cross and Save The
Children.  I will be sending that money as soon as possible.  The
Norwegian government is taking in at least 6000 refugees starting
today, I believe, and I am glad my tax payments will be used to
finance their stay.  But I don't want to be a peace activist.  I'm not
interested in doing that kind of work.  Does that sound callous?  I
suppose it does, but at the end of the day, I still don't want to
spend my life that way.

I don't have the drive to do that kind of work, and I think one large
reason is because I see that it is not a solution.  I'm an engineer.
I solve problems.  There is no such thing as a grass roots engineer.
You find the problem and you fix it.  That's one of the reasons why I
like the Norwegian system of government.  It uses a good blend of
socialist and capitalist methods to solve problems.  The political
parties don't spend a lot of time arguing, and they don't waste time
tearing each other down.  When a problem comes up, they fix it.  If
the fix doesn't work, they fix it again.

I just don't want to spend my life working for peace in a system that
is structured in a way that guarantees I will fail.  I believe the
system is structured that way, so I see no virtue in raging against
it, pacifically *or* violently.  Chomsky has revealed how the system
works.  I can find no error in his analyses.  A large part of his
message is that the system will always react this way.  He spends most
of his time on revealing this and precious little on designing a
solution.  But I'm an engineer; as an engineer I can only commit to
designing a solution.  It's what I do.

I know there are people with minds like yours out there.  More power
to you.  Even though I believe and say to you that the structure of
the system will prevent your success, you will keep going.  I respect
that, even though I will refuse to do it myself.  I will send money to
organizations of people like you, but I don't want to spend my life
doing that kind of work.  I'll be 50 years old next year, and for many
of those years I had more trouble with depression than one person
should have.  Yet even though the pain I went through remains the
worst thing I can imagine, I can't compare it to the pain of suffering
in Yugoslavia, and in other places.  It is vital for those people just
to know there are organizations and people like you trying to help.
But I have seen behind the curtain and I think I know how the machine
works.  I am an engineer.  I am either bold enough or foolish enough
to believe I can fix it.

martin

Martin Smith                    Email: [log in to unmask]
P.O. Box 1034 Bekkajordet       Tel. : +47 330 35700
N-3194 HORTEN, Norway           Fax. : +47 330 35701