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War Pacifism

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The question of whether war is justified or not has been debated through time. There is the side that war is not justified since humanity ultimately gets hurt by war. The other side is that war is justified because in it humane to have issues and the only way to solve some issues for the better of the world is to have a war. Thomas Aquinas and George Orwell believe that people can justify offensive warfare, but Mo Tzu is in opposition of war. War can either be seen as it is self defense and justifiable, or that it is never justifiable to hurt one another. Thomas Aquinas wrote “Summa Theologica”, a summary of theology that discusses what makes a war become justified. George Orwell was a considered socialist and political liberal, who was also …show more content…

The weakness of pacifism greatly outweighs the strengths of pacifism because pacifism in war does not solve any real problems. (Topic) People have to realize that no matter what, people are going to be in some way fighting one another. (Point) George Orwell in “Pacifism and the War” wrote about how pacifism is ignorance because “the idea that you can somehow remain aloof from and superior to the struggle, while living on food which British sailors have to risk their lives to bring you, is a bourgeois illusion bred of money and security” (Orwell 509). (Evidence) People have to be completely ignorant to be living off of what has been provided to them by fighting, because they don't realize that they wouldn't have all they do without the wars going on. (Explanation 1) People have to be fighting in some sort of way to obtain the freedom and utilities for all. The world does not have an unlimited amount of what is needed, and so we must fight for our resources. (Explanation 2) An educated person would be able to realize this and be able to pick a side that would benefit them, because war is unavoidable and therefore justified. George Orwell correctly describes how joining in on a war effort is better than disregarding the responsibility that people have to solve issues. (Explanation 3) Being a pacifist does not make the war any more justifiable, it just ignores it.

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