Taming War
Preface
War is a
very poor way to settle differences. Most of us know it’s stupid, but war goes
on. It seems a shame that we should spend any of our precious time on Earth in
lethal conflict.
The aim of
this book is to suggest some solutions to the problem. Warfare in the past was
often highly unpleasant. Sometimes it was unspeakable. Today, with modern
weaponry, it could exterminate the human race. This critical change has been
brought about by developments in technology. I shall suggest that technology,
which has given us the power to extinguish our species, could also give us the
means to blunt and control the tools of war. As well, I shall propose some
strategies for changing our whole culture from one of war to one of
peace.
This book
promises no golden age. Even if we can avoid a nuclear holocaust, humans will
continue to be stupid, greedy and cruel – and also, quite often, intelligent,
moderate and kind - because that is in our nature. Hurt and sorrow are unlikely
to disappear from our lives. But we might, perhaps, be able to reduce some of
the extreme damage and pain that we cause each other through warfare. There may
be better solutions than those offered here, but what is certain is that we must
change our thinking. If we are to have an acceptable future on this planet we
have to learn to tame war.