Long Way Gone Discussion #2: War

[Mrs. W]

"In such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, not to be on the side of the executioners." -- Albert Camus (1913-1960)

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)

These statements contradict each other. Discuss who is right; who is wrong? Is war inevitable for the human race, or will there ever be a day with no wars?

[K.D.R.]

In my own personal opinion, I think that all three statements are correct depending on the situation. For instance: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” the statement made by Isaac Asimov, would be a true statement about a dissent between people that turns violent when they cannot keep a cool head when frustrated. Whereas, as John Stuart Mill put it, some wars are fought to protect people who cannot or will not, for some reason, protect themselves. I believe that more than often, wars are fought to protect or conquer rather than out of anger and incompetence.
I believe that war is inevitable for the human race. There will always be people in this world who are too weak to defend themselves from others. Also, there will always be people in this world who take advantage of these weak people and pray off of their existence. Therefore, wars must be fought to defend, and sometimes weaken a world power that has gotten out of hand. A good example of this type of war is the fighting in Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a cruel leader who tortured and killed his people for petty reasons. A war had to be fought in order to bring an end to his rule. It is true that in some cases, fighting can be avoided, but ultimately wars must be fought in order to keep peace and defend people in need.

[Kimberly M]

War is evil but sometimes you don’t have a choice to fight. War is good when you know what you are fighting for and why you’re fighting for it. War is a horrible thing but in the world there is other things that are worse like losing your love ones or getting separated by them as a young child. In the first quote it just means that we shouldn’t be part of the killing. By that we need not to just stand around and say nothing because by doing that we are contributing in some way. I believe that war will always be here because people have different beliefs that they’re willing to stand up for. I sort of I agree with each quote just differently though. Violence in the world will always be here it never solves anything but some people will never see that.

[Keith F.]

I agree with John Stuart Mill's quote because he says that war is not a bad thing, he says that not believing in a cause is the worst thing one can see. I disagree with Camus simply because everyone has their own perception of right and wrong, good and bad; so in that note it is sometimes difficult to pick sides. I also disagree with Asimov simply because violence is not but a part of human nature. Even before society there was violence and war and nothing that humans do will ever change the fact that war exists.
In my opinion there is nothing more important to a human life than believing in a cause and fighting for ones right to exist how they may want.

[Karmina R]

I believe that war will stay as long as people stay. As the sophomore class has learned, power corrupts the soul and with power there will never be enough to go around. If this is correct, well what happens when ever one is equal; competition erupts and a battle for power is started. It’s a painful, and for some villains adrenaline filled, cycle. Although I don’t particularly agree with war I as well as most people have acknowledged that it is here to stay. I do, however, agree with the first quote; "In such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, not to be on the side of the executioners." -- Albert Camus (1913-1960). I think he is basically saying war shows ignores so the intelligent don’t settle on war.

per 5
karmina ruiz

[Marshall L]

Isaac Asimov's quote "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" is the correct statement for explaining the roots of violence becuase violence is resorted to by thiose who cannot solve their problems diplomatically. Unfortunatly the world is coverd by these types of people who can only solve things by having a bigger stick then everyone else and shaking that stivk at people they dont agree with or who interpet them as "evil". Making war an inevitable part of life, I also beileve Mr. Camus has the wrong idea becuase as shown in A Long Way Gone we saw that both sides were the executioners how are you supposed to chose sides that way. Thats why Isaac has the right idea.

[Teryn S]

Isaac Asimov seems to have this idea about war correct, the way I see it. “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” I believe we as people would hope to have this be true but we all know it’s not always that way. In a perfect world we would hope that violence is our last resort, but we all know sometimes it’s not. People that are incompetent resort to violence last, which is great. There are some people, as we all know that go straight to violence. This quote, I believe, is so true even to this day. The reason being so because we as the human race have come a long way. Change takes time with time, violence will be everyone’s last resort; I hope.

I with no doubt in my mind believe that one day we will live in a world without war. It’s sad to say but we all know it’s true, war sometimes is inevitable. Hopefully we will be able to evolve more and maybe not get or be involved in so many wars. That’s the bright side of this. There are always going to be those people in the world that need that extra power in their hands. They aren’t going to be able to agree to disagree. That one person won’t be able to accept that they are equal with another human being. To them it’s about being that one step ahead. We need to remember world peace is a good thing.

Teryn S.
Period 2

[Jordan H.]

I beleive that war is ugly but not the ugliest. Yes war is terrible there are many terrible things in war and plenty of deaths, however, if it wasn't for war the world could be in such worse of shape. We could have had 5 holocausts by now and all be under the rule of a cruel dictator because no one was willing to fight for what they beleived in. We would have no way of trying to resolve what we want. So therefore I agree with John Stuart Mill war is bad but there are worse things out there in the world today

[ChrisM]

In techinical facts, nobody is right. Everyone has different views and, in times of war, will kill anyone who even hints that they might be wrong. As John Stuart Mill said,and I agree with him, war is ugly, and in the case where one person on one side understands the other sides view, everyone is now an enemy to him because his teammates know he betrayed them and the opposite side still see him as an enemy. Mill also has a point in saying, "The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse." He says here that people who think that war is an extreme measure or last resort, and it is not, don't value thier freedom and rights. If we do not go to war, it does not mean the opposite country will not. Mill has a good idea with this qoute and actually shows that it is not war that does the harm but the people here, only speaking and not acting. If people did something instead of complain about war, some views could change and people could realize, "This is real, and it's not getting better." "If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf." ~Lemony Snicket, and also, "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." ~Ernest Hemingway. these, in order are saying that if people wrote books like others speak, pretty soon it would be illegible, and Hemingway says that you should do sober what you said you would do drunk because you'll keep your words and thoughts to yourself and not end up doing crazy thing.

C.M.
Period 3

[Jaclyn S.]

All three of these statements are true in their own way. Each of the people who wrote these quotes obviously have a different perspective on war and that can be good sometimes. For John Stuart, he believed that war was a bad thing and most people can agree with that. But other people like myself believe that war sometimes is necessary because if the war between the Thirteen colonies and Great Britain never happened, The U.S. wouldn't of never been like it is today. War sometimes isn't the best thing to do, but if it's for change or for freedom, sometimes it is for the better.