Against nature

Publish date 10-03-2022

by Max Laudadio

War should be totally foreign to man, since it distorts its essence.

Dear friends, Starting with 1 means looking in the mirror. But not with a superficial look, with what only the eyes of the soul can guarantee.

This is why I decided to share with you a letter that a dear friend of mine, prof. Nicolò Raimondi, wrote on the occasion of the commemoration of the fallen of 4 November last. I marry her in every sentence and I consider her the starting point for very, very important reflections.

Enjoy the reading!

Every year there are days to commemorate people and events; often they are events that recall tragedies and actions far from any conception of humanity. Such as the war. No taboos, neither among us, today, nor in schools or in the workplace: war, any war, is idiocy. It does not mean the principle of defense of one's own nation, a sacrosanct right. But we mean most of the wars, which in fact are of conquest, annihilation of peoples with the only major objectives: economic exploitation and political submission. Oriana Fallaci, about the war in Vietnam wrote: "But why must beauty always be dirty?".

If we were to take a broad look over time, from '14 -'18 ('15 -'18 for our Italy) to today, it is not possible to say that anything has been learned from the last century. Certainly in Europe, thank God, similar conflicts have not opened up anymore, excluding the recent events in Eastern Europe. But alas, those who gave their lives for their homeland, for freedom, like our fallen ones, certainly did not wish to transfer and continue wars around the world.

We will always be grateful to those men who had to leave for the front and defend Italy, those same men who arrived on the battle lines understood the uselessness of war and the incredible human cruelty exploited by those who in suits, some offices or well-furnished halls sent soldiers to die. Many letters sent by soldiers speak of their poor living conditions at the front, but not only for the very fact of risking their lives every day, but also for the sense of abandonment by the high hierarchies. But most of all, the suffering, the huge tragedy that no one suspected would happen. We have often heard it: incredible carnage. We no longer have to commemorate that horrendous war, but we must honor those boys and men who sacrificed themselves, aware of dying, in order to guarantee a freer future for generations to come, they were convinced of this, even if then, we know, it didn't go quite as they hoped; in fact, the Second World War was reached.

Almost all of us were lucky enough to hear direct witnesses of those events, some grandfather or uncle, and we were deeply impressed by those stories and grateful to be able to live today without the fear of not being able to see the sunset. Perpetuating the memory of those who have fallen must help future generations to get up again, always. All the war memorials scattered around the country, and which each year receive new crowns, must be a warning for everyone, as if it were issued by the soldiers themselves: «Cease the fire! No more absurd violence! Enough use of weapons, but learn the use of dialogue ». Just like on Christmas Eve 1914, the famous Christmas Truce. War should be totally foreign to man, since it distorts its essence; in fact we human beings were born to meet the other, to enrich ourselves with relationships with the different, not to annihilate him, the law of the strongest does not exist and it is useless to bother Darwin in this regard, given that his theory was posed with very different terms.

Continue to commemorate the fallen of the Great War on November 4th?

In the most absolute way, remembering, however, never to do it as a simple and aseptic duty, but putting our heart into it. Starting with us, from our homes, from our cities, starting from here to cease the fire of the absurd rivalries and violent disputes. Peace must not be a utopia or a legend, but must become a fact, in Italy and in every place of this wonderful world. This is why war, any war, is idiocy: it destroys man and destroys creation.

Our goals are quite different.

I thank prof. Nicolò Raimondi for having allowed the publication of his letter. Because Peace is possible! It's always just a matter of choices.

Max Laudadio

NP dicembre 2021

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