tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post7350894917842935729..comments2024-03-29T15:04:20.549+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: What happened to pacifists in WW1?Helshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-13739588697695201432019-06-08T14:23:40.084+10:002019-06-08T14:23:40.084+10:00George's
Isn't it interesting that a youn...George's<br /><br />Isn't it interesting that a young man mired in grief often goes on to use humour or satire as a way of dealing with the misery. I suspect depression was the more common response.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-79945457389088169942019-06-08T08:07:26.474+10:002019-06-08T08:07:26.474+10:00@Parnassus
Always tickled to happen upon another B...@Parnassus<br />Always tickled to happen upon another Benchley admirer. I trust you've been keeping up this past decade/decade and a half with the new material. Benchley's been my favorite humorist since the early 1970s, and I have to say that the new century has already yielded up more than the last thirty years of the Twentieth–good stuff too. Rather than reprints of previous collections. we've had many theater reviews, New Yorker columns, pieces for The Detroit Athletic Club and MUCH more—truly it's been a bonanza!<br />BTW, your mention of SOB's loss brought to mind (as does any mention of the Spanish–American war, McKinley, Teddy R &c) what Benchley overheard his horrid mother say, and, assuming his repeated references in later life are any indication, how deeply wounded by it was this young man already deeply mired in grief. <br />Greg R.Georges Reivreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10420830778442089664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-71576895096276548842017-04-10T18:09:30.447+10:002017-04-10T18:09:30.447+10:00Pinky
many thanks. Do you have an interest in pac...Pinky<br /><br />many thanks. Do you have an interest in pacifism?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-23364686305499807682017-04-10T18:08:51.164+10:002017-04-10T18:08:51.164+10:00bazza
a nation certainly had the right to conscri...bazza<br /><br />a nation certainly had the right to conscript 18 year old boys in the time of war, and to gaol them if they objected to fighting. But no nation had the right to put shell-shocked 18 year olds in No Man's Land so that soldiers from either trench would be certain to kill them. This was illegal, immoral and disgusting.<br /><br />When my sons were 18, I was still telling them do their homework and tidy their rooms :(Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-3117238006022966442017-04-10T00:37:27.221+10:002017-04-10T00:37:27.221+10:00Hi Hel. Apparently 306 British and Commonwealth so...Hi Hel. Apparently 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers were shot in WWI for 'cowardice' or 'desertion'. So, even if they didn't manage to avoid conscription, they could end up dead. Of course this number is insignificant when compared with the hundreds of thousands who were pointlessly slaughtered on both sides through the incompetence of the generals.<br /><b><a href="http://todiscoverice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> CLICK HERE for Bazza’s unlikely Blog ‘To Discover Ice’</a></b>bazzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794010156639774028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-17775410297733007182017-04-09T14:35:36.210+10:002017-04-09T14:35:36.210+10:00residentjudge
"Defence Minister Stephen Smit...residentjudge<br /><br />"Defence Minister Stephen Smith announced a judicial inquiry into cases of abuse within the Australian Defence Force from the 1950s through to the present day. The single act of introducing conscription, by limited ballot, of young men into the Australian Army, in the years 1965-972, for military service overseas in a war zone, constitutes one of the graver acts of abuse and bullying of Australian citizens in recent history. The judicial inquiry should look at the ethics, effect, equity and justice of conscription. It was an abuse of power and of people, and redress and an apology are required to right the wrong that was committed." <br />The Combined Servicemen, March 2013<br />http://www.nscfaa.org.au/files/Combined-Servicemen-Mar-2013.pdf<br /><br />Alas I couldn't find any findings and recommendations.<br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-32382158516021401492017-04-09T11:23:26.748+10:002017-04-09T11:23:26.748+10:00Thanks for this Hels- it was really interesting. I...Thanks for this Hels- it was really interesting. I hadn't heard of the enquiry you mentioned about the ADF. Do you know more about it? Wish I was in England to go to that exhibition!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-16912493227950604982017-04-08T23:47:24.368+10:002017-04-08T23:47:24.368+10:00Parnassus
was Robert Benchley always a committed ...Parnassus<br /><br />was Robert Benchley always a committed pacifist? Or did he become a pacifist when he saw the carnage of the Spanish-American War? It seems that many families who willingly sent off a beloved son or brother at the beginning of a war.. became much more considered in their pacifism when the young man was killed or severely wounded. <br /><br />If it was my son or brother, I would be taking the army apart :(<br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-75595515046863275882017-04-08T23:41:56.805+10:002017-04-08T23:41:56.805+10:00Andrew
do you remember a few years ago when a Jud...Andrew<br /><br />do you remember a few years ago when a Judicial Inquiry had to examine the ethics, effect and justice of conscription in the Australian Defence Forces? Mandatory Conscription was an abuse of power and of people, and steps were required to right the wrong that was committed. I wonder what happened to that Inquiry? If the findings were as awful as people expected, then you are correct... it could not happen again.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-85839405860264147252017-04-08T23:35:32.069+10:002017-04-08T23:35:32.069+10:00Deb
True pacifists would oppose killing, whicheve...Deb<br /><br />True pacifists would oppose killing, whichever countries are involved. But for the rest of us, I suppose we have to differentiate between the circumstances. In WW1 and WW2, the French, Belgians, British etc truly believed their nations would be overrun by the enemy, their houses destroyed and their families killed. Even most COs were prepared to do civilian work of national importance, instead of fighting.<br /><br />But in Vietnam, I doubt if Australian men of army age even knew where that country was on the map. No-one here believed we would be invaded! So no wonder men feared conscription to a country they didn't know, to fight for a cause they didn't understand. Agreed.. we learned nothing :(Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-5610167735654412292017-04-08T18:24:11.921+10:002017-04-08T18:24:11.921+10:00Hello Hels, Robert Benchley (my favorite writer),...Hello Hels, Robert Benchley (my favorite writer), whose beloved older brother was a casualty of the Spanish-American War, was a determined pacifist, a position he made clear through abundant satire in his essays.<br />--JimParnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-88943553574200877252017-04-08T17:10:46.191+10:002017-04-08T17:10:46.191+10:00Imagine trying to get conscription through the par...Imagine trying to get conscription through the parliament now. Imagine trying to conscript today's young people. The would have one eye on their phone while they were shooting at the enemy. No smashed avocado on sourdough in the army.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-74628743621006638072017-04-08T09:45:28.439+10:002017-04-08T09:45:28.439+10:00Helen
Do you remember the fears that COs felt duri...Helen<br />Do you remember the fears that COs felt during the Vietnam War? We learned nothing from WW1 and so on.Debnoreply@blogger.com