Bob's Angry Rants

The term "peaceniks" is really starting to piss me off. My understanding of the term is that it is a derogatory term used to refer to people who want peace. It is being used liberally by the local conservative columnist to deride those who do not approve of a war with Iraq. As if there is something wrong or bad about desiring peace or not wanting people to die just because our president wants a distraction from the domestic situation.

Now, applying labels, both to yourself and others is a pretty common tactic in any sort of ideological debate. Typically this is done with the intent of portraying the opposing side in a negative manner. For example, in the abortion debate, "Pro-lifers" call themselves that to imply that the other side is "Anti-life" and the "Pro-Choice" side implies that their opponents are "Anti-choice." Neither of these implications is really true, but they are effective.

Now we come to "peaceniks." This is a label that proponents of war with Iraq have plastered on those who have objections to such a course of action. What gets me is that the implication in this label is that there is something wrong with wanting peace. These people apparently feel that it is intrinsically wrong, in this situation, to desire a non-military solution. Now, whether or not a military action is the best solution in this case is irrelevant. I would hope that our leaders would consider peace to be a desirable solution, whether or not it was a viable one. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, George W. Bush would be deeply disappointed if he didn't get to bomb somebody. This guy is just chomping at the bit to kill.

I understand that desiring a peaceful solution will never be the "manly" thing, but, at the very least, it should be an accepted, and even desirable thing. Believe it or not, just because someone doesn't want to go to war does not mean that they are cowardly or that they aren't willing to confront a problem. My experience is that most of them just feel that making lots of people dead generally doesn't make a situation better.

Maybe it is just something that you can't understand unless you are a member of the "Pro-war-because-President-Bush-needs-more-oil-so-dumbasses-can-drive-around-in-their-SUVs" faction.