Antiwar

War is awful, and I have been antiwar since I was young after I read Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen.

On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima — becoming the only country to ever use nuclear weapons during wartime.

One commenter said: “Japan never would of surrendered if we did not . Millions more would of died fighting as the war dragged on for months , even years longer.”

I find this type of rationalization troubling.

People who defend atrocious behavior often justify it with “but this worse thing woulda happened in the future if we didn’t.”

How do we know? Are you a time traveler? A soothsayer? Or, are you repeating a line you were fed?

This is the tactic of evil people (using government as collective cover): justifying despicable actions by saying it’s “good because otherwise this worse thing would happen, or more suffering would occur, or, or, or…”

How do I know? You must judge THE ACTION THEY’RE DEFENDING. Like murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent people with an atomic bomb.

A helpful mindfulness trick to apply is the following: If we stopped the “film of life” right now, would this ACTION (a choice to behave in a certain fashion) be good or bad in this very moment? That’s it.