What Is It Good For

The other weekend, I found myself amidst an anti-war protest. Living in a major metropolitan area, I have seen a few of these, mostly of the variety of people gathering on street corners with signs and placards and encouraging oncoming motorists to honk for peace. But this one was different on several accounts. First, they were marching through a large pedestrian area. Second, there were many more than I had seen at one protest before, at least several hundred, perhaps more. I was not able to get an accurate count. Third, they were very well organized, both in signage, message and leadership. And fourth, I was also a pedestrian, and had a ringside view of the group marching. I had never, to this point in my life, been so close to a group of people driven by their beliefs for peace to take to the streets. Sure, we had all seen such protests, both here and abroad, on television, but being in person at the scene gives the events a completely different perspective. After viewing the march, it left me with many questions and points to ponder, the most notable of which were, why were they so angry and what are they actually doing?

To start, they were not violent, nor did they get into anyone’s face, but they were angry. There was a palpable anger that came from the group as a whole and from specific members in particular. One woman, who may have been one of the organizers, was leading the group in chants and energy. At one point, they stopped to allow others to catch up with them. During this pause, she produced a bull horn and began leading them in a chant. The chant is as follows:

Woman: What do we want?

Group: Peace!

Woman: When do we want it?

Group: Now!

Nothing derogatory toward the current administration, they saved that for a few of the signs and placards, nor anything vile or profane. But they were screaming the chant, many with a vitriol reserved for pure loathing. I found it odd that a group of people would gather together in an effort to show many others how much they want peace, and how important it was to them, and then to be angrily demanding said peace. Part of me wanted to purchase some poster board, write a message stating a wish for 4 more years of war, and sit calmly with it to see what happened. Not that I would ever want such a thing, but I was curious as to what would be the reaction of the protesters. I am fairly certain that many of the group would react negatively to the message, and perhaps even violently. I wanted to point out to them the irony of how they are demanding for peace in an angry and aggressive way, but I got the distinct impression that it would have probably been lost on a good portion of the group.

As they began their march again, I watched with rapt interest as the group continued on its way and on its mission. I wondered about the people partaking in the march, their stories and what drove them to become part of this task. What were their motivations and desires? What makes them want peace so much that they will take to such dramatic action in an effort to bring attention to their cause and mission? But these questions begat other questions, ones that really made me wonder.

I began to wonder how many actually had some sort of personal stake in the war itself. Have any of them ever been in a combat zone, or know the realities of war? Have any of them ever seen the devastation caused by war, or the events that lead up to war first hand? Have any of them ever seen people who have lived their entire lives in abject terror, knowing only fear and death and their only hope is for someone, anyone, to come along and save them? How many of them were related to a soldier in combat, or even personally knew one? Honestly, I would be surprised if that number were over 10%. And if they did have a friend or family member serving in harm’s way, what would that person think of them marching, angrily, for peace? Would they be proud, relieved, or hopeful something would come of it? Would the soldier feel disappointed, cheated or betrayed by them?

Protesters today are careful not to make the same mistakes of those in the 60’s protesting Vietnam, where they protested the war and shunned the troops. Many soldiers then have stories of coming home after the hellish time they spent in combat, only to be treated as pariahs and baby killers upon returning to America. Some were derided, spit on and ostracized by those who were vehement for peace. During the current war, protesters have been very careful to make sure to say that they hate the war and want to end the fighting but are in full support of our troops. They want to bring them home before any more of them perish in what many see as a fruitless and pointless conflict that has no real basis for even existing. That is a debate for another day, but what the protesters fail to realize is that by marginalizing and deriding the war, they are marginalizing what the troops themselves are doing, and thereby, inadvertently, marginalizing and deriding them.

Soldiers want to feel that what they are doing means something, that it is making a difference in the world. They do not want to feel as though their sacrifices are for nothing. And many times, when they see their countrymen protesting and marching against the war, they feel as though they are marching against them. These men and women put their lives at risk each day, no matter the conflict, so the rest of us do not have to ever. It is a tireless, thankless and dangerous job that they never get enough credit for or recognition of their accomplishments or bravery. They face dangers and horrors each day that most us, luckily, will never know and could only imagine in our worst nightmares. They need to feel that what they are doing means something, that it is part of a greater good, that it is for the betterment of us all and ultimately for peace. They need to feel that if they make it out, they can look back and see that what they have done made a positive difference and changed the world for a better place. They need to hold onto this feeling just to make it through each day living and working in a place where their next breath could be their last. Sure, that sounds overly dramatic, but is it? How many times have we heard about suicide bombers, IED devices and sniper attacks? We have heard of them far too many times to take all the drama out of the previous statement and lend it a chilling reality. Now, perhaps when the soldiers come back with their own perspective toward the conflicts, having been in combat zones, they may have a different opinion. Perhaps with their perspective they could give us all a different insight on things, but that is also another debate. What I wonder is whether or not the protesters know how they affect the morale of these men and women, and how it will affect the war itself?

Another thing I wondered when I was watching the protesters was how many of them really were there for peace, and how many were just following the crowd? Watching a few of them, they had the look of just wanting to belong, to be part of something. They had a look that spoke of being an outsider, and just happy to be on the inside for once. I can relate to this, as I am sure many others can as well. When we feel small and outside of the world, we want to attach ourselves to something bigger, something that seems far greater than we are as individuals. The disenfranchised amongst us want to belong, to create change, to leave a mark and be a part of something greater. An opportunity such as a protest gives people that chance, with minimal effort to boot. But do they actually believe what they are saying, or just following the crowd. Mind you, I fully believe many there were very committed to their cause, but a few in the crowd just gave me the distinct impression of salmon heading upstream because that it was something to do.

Which brings me to my second notable question, what were they actually doing. By marching around and yelling about their frustrations, anger and desires for peace, the main impression that I took from them were not that they were an organized group of action, but a bunch of people complaining. This disease seems to be getting worse and worse in our society, affecting all levels of people at an epidemic rate. Almost everyone prefers to complain rather than affect a change in their life. Be it the person in a miserable relationship that just keeps sticking around to the person in a dead end job who goes to work each morning in a funk instead of getting out and grabbing what they want to do in life, everyone is complaining about something. Granted, some of the complaints have merit, but they are still just complaining. And complaining does nothing but temporarily get a problem off your chest, as opposed to solving the problem. I do believe there are those amongst us that are happier when they are unhappy, and complaining is the only thing that makes them happy. If things were going well, or they made a change for the better, they would be miserable. But for the rest of us, it does not have to be like that. We can do something about it.

The protesters did not, or perhaps do not still, seem to realize that making signs and screaming for peace is nothing more than bitching about how things are in the world. Sure, it will get you on the news and a little attention, but if you do not do anything with that, then the only story is, group of people complain about war. And what kind of story is that? If they really believe in what they are saying, then they should do something about it. There are a million things one could do to affect real change and turn those complaints into action. How about run for office and change the laws and the direction of things yourself. If that is too much, perhaps write your congressperson or senator. If they will not do anything, then back others who believe the same things you do and put them into office. Perhaps get a job in government or start a grass roots campaign. Get out there and find others like you band together and form a think tank or organization that can make real strides. Do something that will affect real change as opposed to pompous grandstanding.

Like most people, I do not have any real answers to the tough questions of life. I am trying to figure out things just like everybody else. But one thing I have figured out, and many others still need to, is that nothing in this world is black and white. All we really have are gradient shades of gray. There is no black and white when it comes to war and peace either. Look at any war, and you will find many points of ambiguity where you can question the right and wrong of each decision. Was Truman right to drop the bombs that ended World War II? Sure, countless lives were saved by ending the conflict, but many were killed in the process. See, more shades of gray. We could sit and debate this, and many other decisions made by those in power, and everything else under the sun and moon, until the wee hours of the morning. But there are two things everyone should keep in mind as you go forth and work on finding those elusive answers to life. If you feel strongly about something, get informed about it. Find out as much as you can, base your opinions, beliefs and thoughts on as much information that you can find. Become educated about your opinion, learn the shades of gray and spread that knowledge. What you learn and what you find out could help guide others in their own search for answers in a question filled world. And if you feel so strongly about an issue, problem or something about your world, do something about it. Get out and make a change instead of complaining about it. Make the world a better place, not a more annoying one.