Abstract

A common view of Pacifism is that it represents a splendid but unrealistic ideal: splendid because it would be best if all men acted pacifistically, unrealistic because there is no reason to believe that they will all so act, and if only some do while others do not, the former will be at the mercy of the latter, to be preyed upon like lambs among lions. Far better, therefore, that we bomb, kill, burn, ravage, and destroy in defense of what we cherish than that we accept such a dangerously simplistic philosophy; so long as we do so with heavy hearts at the knowledge of what this signifies about the imperfection of man and the world, and with the hope that we are in the process—by a kind of moral alchemy—helping to create a future in which men may live less barbarously.