Well, to me there is no such thing as a “good” war. Outcomes can be arguably better or worse from war to war. The act of waging war, however, is barbaric, inhumane and insane. Consider these two points: 1) Wars exhibit our collective human failure to solve our problems in peaceful and constructive ways. 2) As Phil Ochs put it, “It’s always the old to lead us to the war. It’s always the young to fall."

This is patently wrong. The young are too young. They haven’t learned yet that they are being played. They whoop and holler, “We got our war!” Proudly they don the uniform. Determined to defend or to avenge, they pick up the banners and the guns. They march. They engage. They kill. They die. Some come home whole. Some are maimed. Most are no longer the same. Yet the old will line them up again so soon for another go. “We got our war!” They whoop. They holler.

Dear Old Dad fought in two awful bloody wars, yet he had the good sense to teach big brother Art and me to “Keep your hands to yourself!” I was 11 and Art was 13 by the time we caught on and never fought each other any more. You might say we beat sense into our own heads. But I’ll never forget Dad scolding us as he pulled us apart. How could I? He said it a million times.

Then as a teacher, I learned the art of collaborative problem solving. “PS’ing,” some students at Aunt Margaret’s school used to call it. It’s simple. 1) Identify the problem. 2) Propose solutions. 3) Choose the best one to settle matters peacefully. 4) Implement. 5) Check and adjust. Aren’t these lovely steps? Aren’t they simple?

How dare our “old” ones, our politicians and presidents model intransigence, bellicosity and war-mongering to our youth! Problem solving should carry the day. Instead, our precious young ones are being groomed for whooping and hollering. By example, they are being conditioned to march proudly off to fight, to kill and to be changed forever in that worst of all ways—while under fire and firing back.

Here are a few lines of “I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore” [1] by Phil Ochs[2]:

Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British wars
The young land started growing
The young blood started flowing
But I ain't marchin' anymore

It's always the old to lead us to the war
It's always the young to fall
Now look at all we've won with the saber and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all

Happy Independence (from war) Day! To Everyone!

Images: Phil Ochs’ family and felines[3], and Mom’s section of the Peace Ribbon

[1] http://www.metrolyrics.com/i-aint-marching-anymore-lyrics-phil-ochs.html
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv1KEF8Uw2k – Phil Ochs sings; dedication to the good people at NATO
[3] https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-b253-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99