Ted Grimsrud


Why People Saying “No” to World War II Still Matters

In Anabaptism, Current Events, Mennonites, Pacifism, Politics on November 21, 2008 at 12:33 pm

During World War II, about 12,000 young draftees chose, because of their pacifist convictions, to refuse to go into the military and instead performed alternative service (another 6,000 or so went to prison out of similar convictions).  This made up only a tiny percentage of draftees–pacifism certainly did not carry the day.

However, that little, flickering light of witness continues to be worth reflecting on (as does our society’s continued assumption that this indeed was a “good war”–see Nicholson Baker’s critique of such an assumption in his book, Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization, and my reflections on critique).  

Here is a recent article I wrote suggesting that the experience on conscientious objectors in Civilian Public Service (the name of the alternative service program) provides a continually important legacy.

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Around the Internet

In Current Events on November 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm

A notable feature in the just-completed political campaigns, which I by and large have welcomed, has been an attempt by politicians in the center and center-left (e.g., Obama) to address issues of faith and to refuse to cede the moral/spiritual high ground to the Christian right. But here is a thoughtful expression of concern about those who are left out: the “atheists, agnostics, and secularists.”

Several years ago progressive pundit Thomas Frank wrote an engaging and much-discussed book, Whatever Happened to Kansas, that has played a major role in efforts to discern the rise and on-going power of the alliance between the religious and political right wings.  Frank has more recently published a follow-up, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, that critiques what it alleges to be intentionally destructive efforts of the Bush administration to diminish governmental effectiveness in addressing society’s needs (while also profiting mightily by diverting public moneys into corporate hands).  In this review of The Wrecking Crew, NYU law professor Jefferson Decker finds plenty to criticize in Frank’s book (largely concerning execution) but also provides a good summary of Frank’s basic argument and its validity.

 

All the “Around the Internet” links for November 2008 and October 2008

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Andrew J. Bacevich. The New American Militarism

In Current Events, Politics on November 21, 2008 at 11:33 am

Andrew Bacevich, professor at Boston University and retired U.S. Army Colonel, has emerged as a major voice in the discussion of American foreign policy and military actions.  His most recent book, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, a fairly popular level bestselling critique of “the illusions that have governed American policies since 1945″ (reviewed here), follows upon an earlier, more substantial analysis–The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War.

The New American Militarism is a cry of alarm from an American patriot, a military man who breaks with his former associates on the political right. The key problem Bacevich identifies is the tendency for Americans to link the military might of our country with idealism about the universality of American values–leading to a destructive tendency to use the military to further “the American way of life.” And one of the major casualties of this tendency, he fears, will be American democracy itself.

Even if Bacevich is more sanguine about positive role the US military has played in the world and could still play than I am, I found his book overall to be extraordinarily helpful–clearly written, forcefully argued, well-documented, and ultimately quite persuasive. It is great to have confirmed the conviction that our current military and global political behavior is extraordinarily self-destructive for our country.

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