Mankind's Dialogue Has Just Come To An End

In 1946, Albert Camus wrote a series of articles, Neither Victims Nor Executioners, asking humanity to reconsider violence as a solution to our problems. His words in the wake of our second world war seem appropriate today:

I once said that...I could no longer hold to any truth which might oblige me, directly or indirectly to demand a man's life.
...
We are asked to love or to hate such and such a country and such and such a people. But some of us feel too strongly our common humanity to make such a choice.
...
Modern nations are driven by powerful forces along the roads of power and domination. I will not say that these forces should be furthered or that they should be obstructed. They hardly need our help and, for the moment, they laugh at attempts to hinder them. They will, then, continue. But I will ask only this simple question: What if these forces wind up in a dead end, what if that logic of history on which so many now rely turns out to be a will o' the wisp?
...
All I ask is that, in the midst of a murderous world, we agree to reflect on murder and to make a choice. After that, we can distinguish those who accept the consequences of being murderers themselves or the accomplices of murderers, and those who refuse to do so with all their force and being. Since this terrible dividing line does actually exist, it will be a gain if it be clearly marked. Over the expanse of five continents throughout the coming years an endless strugle is going to be pursued between violence and friendly persuasion, a struggle in which, granted, the former has a thousand times the chances of success than that of the latter. But I have always held that, if he who bases his hopes on human nature is a fool, he who gives up in the face of circumstances is a coward. And henceforth, the only honorable course will be to stake everything on a formidable gamble: that words are more powerful than munitions.

Of course, Camus was a French commie, so I guess we can safely ignore his words. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition...

ntodd  ¶ 4:21 PM