I've been asked why I speak out so frequently against militarism. The answer is very simple. I know people who've been refugees. I know people who are refugees. I've been to a refugee camp. I've seen the conditions in a refugee camp and the effect tens of thousands of refugees can have on the host country. I've seen how the actual consequences of war can differ so wildly from its intended consequences.
When you've been to a refugee camp, suddenly the idea of war as some universally noble, selfless endeavor with only positive results for the 'liberated' evaporates pretty quickly. When you know people who are or have been refugees, suddenly you realize that those most effected by war aren't the guys with the guns and the body armor and people from back home sending them care packages. Suddenly you realized that those most devastated by war are those who didn't choose in some way to be a part of it. Suddenly you realize that while war is occassionally necessary, it's always undesirable and should never be glorified.
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