Reflections on Anzac Day

What was the point of the war?

Did the 62,000 give their lives or were their lives taken from them? How many medals were awarded to enemy soldiers for their bravery in killing Australians? How many medals were awarded to Australians for their bravery in killing the enemy? How many civilians died as a result of the conflict? These are also numbers worth remembering.

Australians and Turks doing their best to kill each other in Gallipoli and Australians and Russians doing their best to kill each other in the Crimea made no sense.

One can say that WW2 was different, and that Australia was attacked. However, WW2 was in many respects a continuation of WW1. It is doubtful that WW2 would have been waged if nations had managed to avoid WW1.

Generally wars are the result of too many people fighting for too few resources. Differences in religion, nationality and ideology fuel the conflict. Soldiers on all sides are encouraged to fight for God, country, the monarchy, the constitution and other abstractions. They are told that mothers, fathers, spouses and children back them and are proud of them. It is hard to resist the pressure for glory.

In my view the following is an example of the inane and stupid way some go to war:

From To Lucasta, Going to the Warres:

I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.

Honor translates to killing and being killed.

I am writing this article in reaction to ANZAC day. I think it would be a more suitable way to remember the 62,000 and the many others killed in Australia's wars to try to lessen the possibility of future wars rather than have dawn services, parades, speeches and monuments.

We could examine the background to find out why we went to war.

There are many things that can be done to lessen the likelihood of future wars. No doubt many will disagree with my following recommendations. I hope others will make their own recommendations.

1. Control population growth. So far the only major government that has recognised this as a problem is that of China. We know ways to limit population. Educate girls. Provide contraceptive information. Provide economic security. Provide pre and postnatal medical care. In an uncertain world people may have many children knowing many will not grow up.
2. Curb the arms trade. It might wither under the lamp of publicity. Australia's arms trade is shielded from view. Arms export licenses and purchases are mainly commercial-in-confidence so the trade is not open to public scrutiny.
3. Exploit both emotion and critical thinking to recognise war as a plague rather than a noble enterprise. The poems have been included in this essay to recognise that the arts can promote humanity or the lack of it. http://www.constitution.org/wj/meow.htm contains William James essay, The Moral Equivalent of War. It is well worth reading.
4. Teach critical thinking in the schools. A thinking population will be better able to resist propaganda that inflames the passions.
5. Remember those such as Reverend Dr. John Dunmore Lang, Charles Gavan Duffy, John Curtin, Reverend Dr. Charles Strong, Eleanor Moore, Vida Goldstein and others who have worked for peace. Their monument would be to continue their work.
6. Protect the environment. Our sustenance depends on it. Scarcities produced by environmental destruction can be a source of conflict.
7. Support peaceful means of resolving international conflicts.Promote an equitable distribution of the earth's resources.Support separation of religion and state. In the above essay religious figures have been mentioned as working for peace. If the church is the handmaiden of the state its voice of conscience is muted.
8. Remember those who have died in and as a result of Australia's wars and question how wars many need not have been fought. Ask how they could have been prevented. History is often presented with clichés that fail to recognise the past. Let us look at our past as clearly and honestly as possible.
9. Let us avoid euphemisms and recognise reality. In an uncertain and often hostile world we need our military. However, it is a euphemism to call an army a defence force. Armies may threaten, attack, defend, occupy, provide flood relief and perform many other functions. We do not have a defence force. We have a military force. Let's recognise it and call it what it is.
10. Let us recognise that Australian soldiers have not always fought for freedom. In the Boer War, for example, Australian soldiers fought to take away freedom from others.
11. Some politicians on ANZAC Day tell us that the soldiers fought for various causes they espouse. Every soldier's death is individual, and every soldier had his own reasons for being there. We can ask what caused them to be there.
12. In every country there are likely to be political figures who are suspicious of diplomacy, mistrustful of foreign and domestic enemies, leery of conflict resolution and believe conflicts should be won, not "resolved". People must learn to recognise them and keep them out of office.
13. Let us work for agreements in which here is a mutual reduction of armaments.

Let us speak respectfully of the dead and mourn them. Let us work for peace.