Last night Howard Zinn, Amy Goodman, the editor of In These Times, and members of the American Humanist association gave a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut. The audience crowded into the Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan. Here’s a few ideas that caught my ear. I also spoke briefly with Howard Zinn after the event.
During his presentation Zinn related a story: Zinn and Vonnegut got in a conversation one night and Vonnegut was complaining, saying that "You know, we've got the antiwar movement for Vietnam, and then we've got the antiwar movement for the gulf war, and the antiwar movement for Iraq, and then another, and then another..."-- implying that, for heaven's sake we don't need any more antiwar movements-- WE NEED AN END TO WAR.
Both Zinn and Vonnegut are huge supporters of the antiwar movement, make no mistake-- but I was glad to see Zinn articulating something that I too have been feeling for some time-- that war itself is something like a virus, and should be treated as a virus-- a virus that has to end-- a virus as lethal and dangerous as SARS, Polio, AIDS, and the Black Death. War, in short, needs to end. It ought to be seen as a virus.
Vonnegut called up Howard Zinn about a decade ago and struck up a friendship. Howard Zinn about fell off the chair when he heard Vonnegut's voice on the phone-- Slaughterhouse Five is one of Zinn's favorite books. Zinn pointed out in his Vonnegut tribute that while Vonnegut was huddled in Dresden as a prisoner of war, Zinn was flying over Europe throughout the war dropping bombs. Both these guys saw combat and later, both became among the most progressive antiwar voices in the country.
Both saw the futility of war. And Zinn pointed out the audacity of Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five which dared to criticize the morality of “the good war”.
And I’ve read superb articles that argue that,
"War begins — I believe — in our hearts, and that is where it must end."
I’ve read superb meditations on war by Vonnegut, Zinn, Chris Hedges, and James Hillman.
And I want to go farther in framing, and connect a few more dots.
Is war itself a virus?
Countries can mobilize millions to fight dangerous viruses-- isolate the virus (i.e. polio) and then give vaccinations and create prevention. Its high time, too, that war itself was treated as a virus. It ought to be viewed as a virus-- every bit as dangerous as the most lethal viruses we see being treated in hospitals and being investigated in research labs. We do not need a world with polio. We do not need a world with war. Its finally, finally come to this.
When you see what war does to habitability on the planet, what it does to long-term viability of ecosystems, what it does to human populations, what it does to families for generations, what it does for the soul-- it is easy to draw the conclusion that war itself ought to be eradicated with the same patience and precision as polio was eradicated.
Imagine if from time to time (say, borrowing a page from Alan Moore) an elite unleashed a virus upon its population in order to reap some kind of profit… Well, it can argued, plausibly, that war is essentially the same racket. Its high time that war was looked at as a disease-- a medical condition that needs treatment. Its time for this tipping point. An end to war. Period.
I spoke with Howard Zinn after his talk. I mentioned to him how much I enjoyed reading his A People's History of the United States and how I wished it had been included in my high school curriculum. He said that the book is now in a lot of curricula but it was all but banned on its release. I wanted to ask him about books that connect more of the dots on the part of his speech where he implied that we need to aim for the end of war itself-- but instead I asked him what he reads so that he remains hopeful.
In context, the moderator pointed out that Zinn is a lot more hopeful than Vonnegut about humanity's chances. Vonnegut, while side-splittingly funny, did not view our chances as a species on this plant as being particualry favorable. In our self-created madness, we stack too much against ourselves. But Zinn finds a lot to be hopeful about. Wherever he goes in the country he meets everyday good people who are working to advance the cause of justice, sanity, good schools, clean air, clean water, and ethical culture. So I asked him if there were any books that he read (besides Heller's Catch-22 and various Vonnegut books) that give him a sense of hope in these gloomy times. He said that indeed there was a book: George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia.
So that's my next read-- Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. Zinn said that a group of people set up a society in Barcelona in response to the Spanish civil war that gives him a lot of hope. I can't wait to read it.
In person Zinn was a radiant, heartfelt man-- it was a pleasure meeting Zinn after his lecture. I find that when I hear Zinn in his lectures (DVD) I feel really hopeful, but then I get really depressed when I read his books, (because there's such a litany of injustice and cruelty). But somebody has to air the shadow of this strange country-- Zinn is one of the best at doing so.
Zinn gave a moving tribute to Vonnegut.
And it added insight into a framing of war that I’ve been considering for some time: that war itself is a virus, and should be treated as a virus. It is a virus as lethal and dangerous as SARS, Polio, AIDS, and the Black Death. War, in short, needs to end. "A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
--Kurt Vonnegut, Sirens of Titan
PS There is recent media storm in regard to a man who traveled with the XDR-TB strain of the tuberculosis virus putting people at risk.
Connecting the dots with war as a virus: Do we see an equivalent media reaction each time a politician opens their mouth to trumpet or fund a new war? Each time a politician (or neighbor, or loved one) opens their mouth and argues for war or for the continued funding of the current war, I would urge them to take three sincere actions:
- Cover their mouths—stop talking—they likely hold a contagious virus on their breath.
- Read Vonnegut or Zinn immediately.
- Begin viewing war itself as a deadly, highly contagious virus, which ought to be researched, investigated, and eliminated like the polio virus.