Friday, November 28, 2008

"What if they threw a war and nobody came?"


Have you ever heard this saying before?
"What if they gave a war and nobody came?"
I've never agreed with people throwing this line out. It seems to presuppose that there is never a good reason to go to war. I discovered today that the line is taken out of context and it actually is from a poem which states quite the opposite.

by Bertolt Brecht, written in the 1930s.
"What if they gave a war and nobody came?
Why, then, the war would come to you!
He who stays home when the fight begins
And lets another fight for his cause
Should take care:
He who does not take part
In the battle will share in the defeat.
Even avoiding battle will not avoid battle.
Since not to fight for your own cause
Really means
Fighting on behalf of your enemy's cause."

Watching some Youtube videos about Hitler's henchmen (links below) brought this to mind:
**If you feel like checking them out make sure you don't have any children present.**
AUSCHWITZ: THE FINAL SOLUTION
Himmler (The Executioner)
Mengele (The Doctor Of Death)
Eichmann (The Exterminator)

A quote I do agree with
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

4 comments:

Jenny said...

Wonderful post Adam!! The last quote is so true. That's how Hitler got control of Europe in the first place. The United States(and other countries)weren't willing to come to the aid of Czechoslovakia and Poland. It wasn't til the US was bombed by the Japanese that they became an official enemy. Think of the lives that could have been saved if everyone band together earlier.
In Prague we visited a Jewish War Memorial. It was one of the most saddest places I visited. There were tons of letters and pictures written by Jewish children. I had the chance to visit Auschwitz but it was a place that I couldn't visit. Too much for me.
Great post...

Adam said...

Thanks for sharing Jenny. Very insightful. Strange, I've been wondering if I could handle a trip to Auschwitz.

Andrew Brown said...
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Charlene said...
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