Rockridge High School
Taylor Ridge, Illinois
War and Peace
Teacher: Barb Downey
By Andy Irwin
12th grade
When you turn on your TV today and watch the news, one of the first topics you will hear is war. There have been more speeches made about wars than most other subjects. War is one of the first recorded events in time, and it may continue on forever. Peace is a lofty goal set on a high pillar and so far, it is almost unattainable.
Many people think that actions speak louder than words. However, that is not always true. “To preserve peace, we need weapons of smaller and men of larger caliber.” This quote expresses a major view of how to stop war. Instead of saying we need larger weapons to stop war, it says we need smarter and wiser men to stop war. At times, a statement like this would be known as un-American or passive. This kind of thinking was shunned, but soon new ideas swept through our country. This is what the world eventually came to believe during the cold war. The nuclear bomb prevented any major war between the Soviet Union and the United States. Once the nations knew that their problems could not be solved by getting bigger weapons, they started trying to solve problem with their words. The phrase "actions speak louder than words" is not always true. In most cases, words cause greater results than anything else does. Though the author of this quote is unknown, everyone should know this quote’s outstanding thoughts.
“We must have military power to keep madmen from taking over the world.”
Billy Graham, popular evangelist, is making a bold statement in this quote. Billy Graham launched a magazine and wrote many articles for it. This magazine provided Graham with a mass media outlet to tell the world his thoughts, desires, and opinions. However, Graham’s endeavors did not stop there; he wrote several books and frequently wrote for a newspaper. His popularity led him to advise every president since Eisenhower. He was there during Watergate and throughout the Gulf War.
This quote expresses Graham’s opinions on war and military at the same time. Military power leads to war. You can see this in World War I and throughout time. In my opinion, military power can only cause more madmen to seek power than before. To gain military power there must be a very militant government; democracy does not provide such a government. So military governments tend to be totalitarian and the people have no rights. The Soviet Union is an example of a totalitarian government. The country founded itself on trying to make all people equal. To do this, they had to establish military power. The power created could threaten any nation in the world, and it drew many madmen who sought to control it. Stalin was one of these men; he controlled the Soviet Union with an iron fist and created the iron curtain. With his massive military power he was able to gather enough nuclear arms to destroy the world.
“I don’t know what kind of weapons will be used in the third world war, assuming there will be a third world war. But I can tell you what the fourth world war will be fought with-stone clubs.” Without a doubt, Albert Einstein is one of the greatest thinkers of the past century. He also lived through the most terrible time in history. Einstein fled Nazi Germany before the holocaust took place. To seek shelter he came to America to escape oppression and found open arms in the U.S. government. With his help the United States was able to end World War II. His theories on relativity paved the way to nuclear power and the nuclear bomb. Although Einstein was credited mostly with his famous theory of relativity, he could also have been considered a philosopher. Einstein’s mood seems very serious in this quote. It is acknowledging man’s destructive ability and warning of his recklessness.
Jules Verne was a man with great imagination. His particular feelings for war and the submarine are expressed through Captain Nemo, in the book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Captain Nemo uses his submarine, the Nautilus, to destroy ships used for war.
“The submarine may be the cause of bringing battle to a stoppage altogether, for fleets will become useless, and as the war materiel continues to improve, war will become impossible.” This quote can be looked at from many perspectives. From one view, it is an idea that men will realize that they will destroy themselves. However, if you replace the word “submarine” with “nuclear bomb”, you can realize how true it is. Jules Verne saw the submarine as a means to an end. He was able to look through the destruction that the submarines could do and think of a way that they could end destruction. This quote can summarize the cold war. Two powerful nations found weapons so destructive that there was no use for them, short of destroying the world. In some way peace was obtained through mutual fear of war. Although his statement about the submarine ending war was not true, it made a larger statement about war itself. Only until man could destroy himself could he realize the awesome duty to stop war.
Although war seems to continue on forever, there always are chances to stop it. With a compassionate heart and thoughtful mind, we can end it forever. Many great people have experienced war, firsthand, and do not sing its praises. Through their words, we can understand our own power. Moreover, we can try indefinitely to use their words of wisdom to pave a new century of peace and understanding.
Works Cited
“William Graham JR” On-line. Internet. 7 Jan. 2002. Available WWW: http://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?=15290