Hearts and Minds

Perhaps the most important post to date.

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."

~Albert Einstein

From 1974, by Peter Davis. Essential viewing if you want to escape history. From IMDB: "This film recounts the history and attitudes of the opposing sides of the Vietnam War using archival news footage as well as their own film and interviews. A key theme is how attitudes of American racism and self-righteousness militarism helped create and prolong this bloody conflict. The film also endeaveors to give voice to the Vietnamese people themselves as to how the war has affected them and their reasons why they fight the United States and other western powers while showing the basic humanity of the people that US propaganda tried to dismiss."




"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
~Bertrand Russel


"If we do not end war - war will end us. Everybody says that, millions of people believe it, and nobody does anything."
~H.G. Wells

"If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war."
~Pentagon official when asked about the censoring of the Gulf War.

"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
~Adolf Hitler

"The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations."
~David Friedman