A couple of days ago, I’ve discovered Sabaton’s “Fields of Verdun” and played it on repeat for an unhealthy amount of times. I like motivating and explosive music and, if it’s war-themed, that’s even better.
But I did not dance or shake my hips on it; rather, I dedicated the time listening to the lyrics, trying not to tear up.
As the drum roll started on that day, heard a hundred miles away
A million shells were fired and the green fields turned to grey
The bombardment lasted all day long, yet the forts were standing strong
Heavily defended, now the trap has been sprung and the battle has begun
Descend into darkness
303 days below the sun
Fields of Verdun
And the battle has begun
Nowhere to run
Father and son
Fall one by one
Under the gun
I’ve always been eager to know everything there is to know about the psychological no man’s land that war is— how it dehumanizes, how it destroys, how it nurtures chaos and how it brings out the best in people. Humanity has not yet been through an experience more intense than that of war, and for that we should be thankful… but are we?
As I was listening to the song, I started contemplating upon the differences between the generations of people who’ve lived through those horrible times and the present generations. If you were born before 1900, were you aware of what humanity is truly capable of in terms of either evil or good?
Surely, you would’ve heard some war stories from your grandpas, but the history books were nowhere near as abundant in information or sincere as the present day ones — and, of course, they would’ve left out the most interesting stuff. No war videos, documentaries, acces to veteran interviews or HBO series, either.
Okay, but what about us?
Well, you can literally google war footage and it shows up right on your screen. There’s even a subreddit full of combat footage. You can google pictures and memoirs from every possible war that’s happened throughout the last century. Take a look at a youngster’s family tree and you’ll see it’s filled with veterans, POWs, gulag inmates/political prisoners, generations of ancestors growing up under communism or other dictatorial regime.
If you’re alive and can still read or use a computer, you have no reason to be an ignorant regarding this side of history. We have a duty to our ancestors to know and respect their deeds, and most importantly to learn from it and never, ever let the same mistakes happen again.
But still, something baffles me. How is it possible that a person whose country’s been thorugh the toughest of wars, whose people have suffered unimaginable pain at the hands of their oppressors, who’s seen the horrors of battlefields, gulags and extermination camps still wish to bring this upon their people?
I’m not necessarily talking about the leading cause of vaginal dryness (also known as the leader of Russia), I’m talking about every piece of human garbage, who definitely knows their history, and is still willing to bring suffering and genocide upon their people — all for some ideologies not even their makers understood.
Whenever a corrupt politician speaks or psychotic leader threatens with war, a fallen soldier’s grave is being ravaged. Their deeds and memory are being spit on and thrown back in the past like a useless roll of paper.
We are blessed
We are blessed with knowing the consequences of forgotten, ignored or forgiven evil. We are blessed with not having to go through the same catastrophies our grandparents did. We can no longer allow tragedies to happen, corruption to spread and tyrants to rule. Hard times are brought upon by weak men, they don’t just randomly spawn evey once in a while. They can be prevented. If we don’t do this, hundreds of graves will be yet again filled with cannon fodder who died dreaming of a better tomorrow. Those human beings deserve better.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing.
— Edmund Burke
This is not optional. Every possible thing that’s not taken care of will eventually degrade, die or lose its value. It applies to thoughts, minds, ideas and societies, as well. Rust, lime, cancer — corruption, tyranny, evil — these will slowly destroy everything that does not fight them back. Every possible catastrophy has started out as a sparkle in the wrong mind, but it’s easier to put it down sooner than later.
We know to what extent can human creativity go when it comes to evil. We know the hatred war machine can seem unstoppable. But we’ve never know the extent to what collective good can go to. We’ve rarely witnessed true, greater good.
Rarely do good things happen en masse, and that’s pretty sad. Everyone wants to join in when it comes to war, but what about when it comes to peace, reviving dying societies, ending poverty? Isn’t helping each other the highest value a human can possibly strive for? I believe it is… but damn the brotherhood of ego and greed.
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We are a generation which should not fail the ole’ history tests, for all the answers are already written on the last page of the book, or hidden in plain sight throughout the pages. It’s up to us if we’re aiming for progress or just digging more graves to forget about every year.
People have died for something, let’s not live for nothing. Strive for more, strive for good.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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