Snag What Would Pacifists Have Done About Hitler? A Discussion Of War Dictators And Pacifism Generated By A.J. Muste Softcover

do you stop a mad dog dictator By shooting him and his followers This pamphlet argues that violence has not solved the problem in the past Has in fact backfired against usDecent people are many and mad dogs are few Then why do so many decent people follow mad dog dictators Because of the “awful habit of obedience” says Muste who calls for civil disobedience on a grand scale Nonviolent resistance along Gandhian lines This pamphlet is about prevention than cure but does mention Hitler and “the difficulties which the Nazis had with the Resistance often mainly nonviolent in France the Low Countries Denmark Norway” Muste suggests what pacifists might have done about Hitler but does not guarantee results Who could He discusses various provocations of the Western world that breed desperation and extremism in others expansionism economic imbalances and the “defense complex” And calls for global co operation humanitarian aid “all out friendliness” good will wealth sharing Muste likes to reverse positions to show that the perceived enemy is really not so very different from us Suppose he did what we do How would we like it This pamphlet is an exhortation to think not fight our way out of our conflicts To recognize the law of cause and effect To have the courage to act unilaterally in the expectation that the other guy will notice and respond in kind Muste argues that our armaments are not protecting us that they are increasing tensions and making things worse That dismantling them would make us safer This pamphlet is a bit dated in its concern with Stalinism and the Cold War but its principles still apply It offers sane and sensible solutions that look a lot like the Golden Rule but dont expect to see them put into play any time soon They would reuire courage imagination wisdom selflessness far beyond what we are accustomed to seeing in our decision makers who would think Mustes program impractical even naïve But if his program could somehow be implemented peace just

might break out How practical would that beNotice that I am calling this a pamphlet It is described as apage book but is in fact apage pamphlet presented as a book It ispages of wisdom pluspages empty of content This scarce antiuarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original Due to its age it may contain imperfections such as marks notations marginalia and flawed pages Because we believe this work is culturally important we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting preserving and promoting the world's literature in affordable high uality modern editions that are true to the original work Abraham Johannes Muste was born in the Netherlands inand came to America at age six years Grew up in Michigan Ordained a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church inGraduated from Union Theological Seminary inA pacifist he opposed US entry into both world wars Director of Brookwood Labor College in Massachusetts during thes Later executive director of the FOR Fellow.