MILITARIZATION

Given the Karen’s situation, they have no option but to fight. SLORC brings the battle to them, and there is no possibility of peace. Even a cease-fire would not bring real relief - only perpetual oppression. However, even though this may be the case, there is still the age-old question of the futility of militarization, where the only, and short-sighted motivation is to win a specific conflict, not to overcome war for all time. Of course, you cannot use war to end war. And, a peacetime army is an oxymoron. Soldiers want to fight. That’s what they are trained, and mentally-conditioned, to do.

It is true that we shape the circumstances of our lives, and this includes for all the individuals in these photos. But we, the larger community of humanity, can also shape the circumstances of our society as a whole, such that the decisions made by these individuals never again have to be faced.

We cannot abdicate the responsibility which is created through the existence of free will. Nor can we delegate it away. Life, the obligation of life, is that we, as individuals, must decide.

So, what’s it going to be? War, or Peace? A continuance of the patterns of history, or the creation of a new form of order?

You decide.