By David Swanson
http://davidswanson.org/the-bad-good-and-beautiful-war-and-peace-posters/
http://davidswanson.org/the-bad-good-and-beautiful-war-and-peace-posters/
Two exhibits in the Weisman Museum at the University of Minnesota present two contrasting worldviews, a truly sociopathic one supporting mass-murder manufactured by the U.S. government in 1917-1918, and a caring and decent one created by individuals and small organizations in the 1960s. I hope visitors are catching on to the necessity and urgency to choose the right one. See if you can spot the difference:
German people are monsters coming to get you unless you fork over your money for more bullets and poison gas!
Mass murder is unacceptable and should not be normalized.
Shut up and work for what we pay you or you’ll be helping the evil German demons!
Think beyond your own personal material interests. Care about others. Take risks for others.
Jesus wants you to support the humanitarian mass-murder effort.
Even on a huge scale, a crime is a crime, and criminals should be held accountable.
You’re not buying guns, you’re buying books!
You could have just, you know, bought books.
Killing is great for children!
Try to remain capable of shame.
Be a good girl and help fill more graves.
There’s nothing more immoral than war.
War makes peace.
War depends on your willingness to believe bulls**t.
War is the only option.
If war were the only option you wouldn’t need all those posters.
Destroy the climate to help destroy the Germans (and everybody else!)
Throw your body on the gears of the machine and stop it!
*****
Then there’s the real art, which is the building holding the posters.
The Mississippi in recycled iron.
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David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio.He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
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