Can you identify the author of this quote? “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in a final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”
A. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
B. Martin Luther King Jr.
C. Mother Teresa
D. None of the above
Congratulate yourself if you chose D. The speaker was Republican war hero and President Dwight David Eisenhower. In a statement at least as relevant today as it was in the 1950s, Eisenhower reminds us that seeing violence only in terms of its most obvious manifestations is like taking the part of an iceberg above the water line for its entirety. Actually, this is a liberating epiphany. It means that those of us not in a position to influence federal budgets can be very powerful in the quest for a nonviolent — or at least much less violent — world.
Eisenhower made much of the “opportunity cost” of actions. This is the economics term that means choices should be evaluated not only by the costs of carrying them out, but the consequences of not pursuing alternatives. Remember the “I could have had a V8” ad? Eisenhower reminds us that deprivations such as hunger and cold are forms of violence. Rather than inevitabilities, they result from choices such as increasing an already bloated military budget, while cutting on Meals on Wheels or shrinking Medicaid rolls to make the already rich much richer.
Eisenhower led the fight against the Nazis, a regime that killed millions of Jews and others they considered undesirables. The violence did not start with murder. Adolf Hitler knew that people would not engage in widespread genocide if they saw the targets as fellow human beings. Propaganda led them to believe they were literally exterminating cockroaches. The seeds for violence are planted by any speech or action that posits a world of I-it rather than I-thou, a concept voiced by Jewish philosopher Martin Buber.
Hurtful statements can be made without harmful intent. “That’s so gay” is often repeated reflexively by people who aren’t trying to associate homosexuality with anything from ridiculous to vile. How would most of us feel if it was “That’s so straight”?
Many smart, caring people tell me they feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of violence in today’s world. Sometimes it’s hard not to be. I am reminded of a Japanese story. A man is about to flee his home to get away from an advancing army. A neighbor suggests the man release his goldfish into a pond to give him a chance at life. “But what if it buys him only one day?” the man asks. That will be a precious day to the fish, his neighbor argued. The seeds of nonviolence you have to sow may seem small and insignificant to you. But they aren’t, and they add up. Here are some ideas:
— If you garden, plant a row for the hungry
— Buy your cat a toy from Forgotten Felines of Maine
— Help low-income or handicapped neighbors weatherize their homes or do house repairs
— Speak up in an assertive, thoughtful way when you hear something offensive
— Help Food AND Medicine, a Bangor-area nonprofit, pack Thanksgiving baskets
— Bring soup to a sick neighbor
— Call, email or write legislators with positive feedback as well as concerns
— Think of encouraging things to say to family, friends and total strangers, and then say them
— Hold the door for parents with strollers or anyone with a heavy load
— Raise money for causes you believe in
— If you have kids or grandkids, let them join you in volunteering
— If you love to read, join Literacy Volunteers of America or shelve at your local library
— Foster a kitten or puppy awaiting adoption
— Plant a tree
— Pick up litter
— Strike up a conversation with someone who seems shy or lonely
— Help an immigrant family navigate what for them is a confusing new country
— Sign petitions or join marches
The Buddha reminded people that individual drops fill up a whole water pot. How’s that for power?
What would a nonviolent or less violent world look like? Martin Luther King Jr. gives us a clue. “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
Which would you prefer?
Jules Hathaway of Veazie is a writer, community activist and proud mother of three. Come show support for nonviolence at the fourth annual Ending Violence Together rally and march Sept. 16 in Bangor.