Peace For Our time!

 

What will Winston Churchill say on war and peace today?

Fellow country and people of the world, Let us rise as one man and with one solemn voice, say, NO to War.  We condemn every act of violence and barbarity in the name of war. 77 years ago, we vowed to ourselves that “NEVER AGAIN” shall mankind know the ravages of war, yet here we stand today in war and with the whole world at the brink of an even greater disaster, a nuclear disaster. Have we lost our wits? Have we forgotten so soon what we went through? I thought we had learnt the lesson that if the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another. How have we come to this again? The answer is simple, greed, greed of one and greed of all. We seem not to haveunderstood that we make a living by whatwe get but we make a life by what we give.

Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two to war. And if we are in war, it means that two great minds, in an era that humanity has gone to the moon and back, dominates outer space and makes machines to talk, have been unable to talk to each other’s hearts. What a paradox of possibilities and capabilities.

The synonym of war is failure. Let’s stop deceiving ourselves to calm our consciences, we have all failed. Once we find ourselves at war, there are no good guys and bad guys, there are only victims. Because, there is no just war, all wars are not only avoidable but unnecessary acts of gross injustice on the poor.

War is a catalogue of blunders, we stumble from one into the other the moment we stop listening to each other and leave the negotiation table, for, to jaw-jaw is better than to war war. When we see the consequences of war then we realise the importance of simple things like talking and listening. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak: courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. And to listen means to fight so that both sides win. That is the only right fight you can win for sure. And.. if you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be even a worse fate, you may have to fight when there is no hope for victory…

And believe me this is true and every other thing about war is an illusion. The only truth about war is that you know when it starts, but you never know when it will end. So end the war before it starts, because all other war calculations are futile. Never rely only on your strength to win a war before it has started and never underestimate your enemy at war before the war is over. Above all else, never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. And be you warned, any statesman who yields to the fever of war must realize that once the signal has been given he is no longer the master of policy but the slave to unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.

Yet, vast and fearsome as the human scene has become, personal contact of the right people, in the right places, at the right time, may yet have a potent and valuable part to play in the cause of peace which is in our hearts.

To end, let me say that though… it is not given to us to peer into the mysteries of the future, I avow my hope and faith, sure and inviolate, that in the days to come, the people of the West and the people of the East, the people of the North and the People of the South, will for their own safety and for the good of all walk together side by side in majesty, in justice and in peace.

We have no other options, there is no second way.

Jude TV King

A reconstruction with asorted quotes from  Winston Churchill.

04/03/2022