female human persons who have helped males escape drafts have been imprisoned, beaten, have had their children taken away, and have been deported.  some females have died in jails for helping their men refuse to fight.

in america women have not been drafted.  because of this, people often act as if women pay no price when there are wars, but this makes no sense.  not even to us, and we are fish, who do not fight wars.

women have always borne the brunt of war— the long term consequences, the violence that human males bring back to their families and partners, the suicides, the silences, the constant repetition “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND YOU JUST DON’T GET IT SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP”.  when females have participated in peace movements reporters treat them like little children who should stay at home and be supportive to the country.  (which is strange, because those same reporters never ask male human persons why they are running their mouths about, say, abortion, when a male can’t even have one.  but then humans are not very consistant or smart when it comes to genders!)

some human females are quite foolish about war, of course, but consider the stories they have been subjected to, about their duties, about how they are only brave if their men go to war and they encourage them.  they have been told silly stories about sacrifice, and how noble they are for giving up their sons.  we think in the moment the letter is received, the officers show up at the door, the telegram arrives, that they must realize what a horrific lie they have been told, but at that point it is too late, and they want to make sure no one ever knows, for if they waver, it will reflect badly on that poor human boy person who is never coming home.

this poster is the opposite of that.  this poster is blunt and frank and honest.  this is like the old story of the norse wives who sent the message to their husbands in the field, we are taking new mates if you don’t come home NOW, and those husbands went home, yes, they did, even those unwashed vikings knew war might be their business, but home and hearth and mate and mating was far more important, and this poster takes that notion a bit further.  this poster is beautiful, and it shows how well human females do indeed love human males, enough to tell them, hey, don’t go to this silly horrible thing you call a war.  come to me instead.  this is real.  we support you.  we want you home.

you have a choice.  you don’t have to go with the flow.  swim upstream!  you know what happens when you get upstream, don’t you?

;)

saying no to war has a long and complicated history in america.  as far back as the french and indian wars, human persons have said no.  during the revolution, even, and then the war of 1812, and then the war with mexico, and then the civil war, and then the escapades of that warmonger teddy roosevelt, he of the friendly name who could not keep his big stick in his pants, and then the Great War which was supposed to end all wars, and with twelve million human persons dead you would think your species would have gotten the message, but no, then a second war, and then korea, and then vietnam, and then the first war in the persian gulf, and then a second, and then afghanistan, where you still are, and then there are human persons ulcerating for yet another one, this time with iran or… hell, does it really matter?  war is a big business, after all.

and this does not count the hundreds of little wars against tiny countries in the carribean, like haiti, or wars in central america, or the wars in south america.  this doesn’t count the hundreds of little wars you are waging right now as we type this sad account of america run amok!  this doesn’t count the wars you don’t admit to, like cambodia and laos, or yemen.  this doesn’t count your war on drugs, which is taking the lives of thousands all over the world every day, ruining the lives of innocent bystanders left and right, and still has only served to make wealthy wicked people while not ending drugs at all.

(you have actual troops on the ground in countries all over the world you know, killing other people, over drugs.  yes, you american human persons.  you’re paying billions of dollars for this, and no one is bothering to let you know, how your militarized DEA shot and killed two pregnant women and two young men on a boat in a river in colombia last month, because they thought they were ferrying drugs, when that boat had already come and gone.  four human persons dead, and some potential human fry snuffed out.  was it worth it?  did it fix anything?  no?  we didn’t think so.) 

this doesn’t even count the wars you fought to try to exterminate the human persons who lived on america first.

and in every single one of those wars, someone was asked to go fight, and they said no.

at some points in your history, if you said no, you would be thrown in prison and hanged.  sometimes you would be flogged and beaten.  your family would be threatened and perhaps imprisoned with you.  during world war 1, men who refused to go and refused to do anything else to help with the war were sentenced to death, though it was commuted— to sentences like life, fifty years, twenty-five years.  people who tried to help men escape the draft were also thrown in prison.

some of these people were religious, and did not believe in war.  like quakers and amish and mennonites, who were sometimes tortured for refusing to go.  some of these people were communists, who did not believe in killing their fellow workers overseas for the benefits of the capitalist bosses at the top.  sometimes some of these human persons said no because they just got pissed off.

like in the picture above, when thousands of mostly irish immigrants rioted in new york against being drafted to fight in the civil war.  they rioted because they knew full well, rich men were simply paying for their precious sons to not be drafted at all, but it was all right to send someone else’s son away.  they rioted because they had arrived in a land that refused to treat them like human beings, but were just fine with them going off to do the dirty work.

the reasons for not fighting don’t always have to be noble.  after all, the reasons FOR fighting usually aren’t noble at all.  but it is still more difficult to say NO than it is to say yes.

we gave a great deal of consideration to this macabre human holiday you american persons have, on which so many of you go on and on, and wax sentimental/poetic/emotional about your many wars.  we think this is terrible, and very unhealthy.  it seems to hinge on some idea about what you call “patriotism”, which of course doesn’t mean anything at all, at least if you are a big capitalist corporation.  but it also hinges on an idea that going to war is a sign that you are brave.

this is rank nonsense.

human persons rounded up to go to war are taking the easy way.  in some situations, wars are so huge entire nations of humans mobilize, and everyone is forced to get on board with it.  in other situations there are things like economics at work, which is why so many poor people go to fight, and most rich people do not.  and then there are middle wars, where the entire nation is not mobilized, but there is a draft.

when you are drafted, you are summoned to appear and answer that yes, you are present and you are going to serve.  in some wars people had to sign and say yes.  in the vietnam war, this human person, muhammed ali, who used to be named cassius clay, was called, and he went down there to the place he was supposed to answer at, and he refused to answer.

think about that for a moment.  he stood in a room full of other people who were saying yes.  other male human persons, who think they are brave by saying yes.  and his name was called, and he just stood there like a rock, and he did not say yes.

he said no.

this memorial day, we are going to celebrate the human persons who have stood in the face of tremendous pressure, prison time, not being able to work and take care of family, sometimes people who sacrificed their lives in the name of peace, but they stood and said NO.  they are fish who swim upstream!  swimming upstream is the hard way.  the water is rushing straight at you, straight into you, pushing and pummeling, sometimes so hard you have to leap out of the foam into the air just to hear yourself think for a second before you plunge right back into the onrush of water screaming at you YOU WILL DO WHAT WE WANT!!!  you will go THIS way!  you will do as you are told!

no.

human persons who have said no to war should have a day when they are celebrated.  because war is an evil thing.  it is not some intrinsic part of your nature.  violence perhaps is— it is certainly part of ours.  but war is just a horrible, deadly, wicked social construct, in which some people sincerely believe, but most just go because they think they have to.  most don’t realize they have a choice.  most, when they are marched into a room full of other human persons, step forward and say yes, because all the other human persons in the room did.

muhammad ali will always be the greatest fighter boxing has ever known, this is true.  he will always be known for his wit and his grace, and for his sheer power and force.  but the day he stood in a room and said nothing?  that will always be his finest moment as a human person.