And one day, after a time...

 Once, in the history of this country, the people addressed the then government of issues and grievances in person and through correspondence. Their words were received, and responded to, with contempt. Their voices fell upon deaf ears, and their persons were labeled as trouble makers, rabble rowers and instigators of unrest. This only accelerated the situations presently in contention, and after a time, these persons instituted a direct action against the then empowered government. Yes, the first hesitant and faulty steps toward revolution and replacement of empowered government with new provisions and government body.

Almost every existing country today can claim that as a beginning of their now embanked government body. And in many places, these scenes are replayed over and over, time and time again, for various reasons with various peoples portrayed as villain and veteran, terrorist and patriot, sinners and saints all. We have so many reasons and excuses to 'go to war', and many were initiated from a 'move for peaceful change'. We take sides based on individual needs and sometimes switch sides for reasons as minor as worried about being on the loosing, or as history usually records it, the 'wrong' side. Petty and impersonal decisions, that fall far from the initial reasoning and desired outcomes.

Always is there a call from the oppressed to be helped, to be aided and uplifted from depression, disease, hunger and lack of shelter. Always there is reason to assist our fellow humans as we ourselves were helped and aided by others. Always is there also a call by the empowered to be served. Where these line vary and cross, we see injustice, unlawfulness, and a reason to be concerned. Our existing government has set guiding laws into place to uphold these less fortunate, to ensure a common defense of all persons. Persons...not corporations, not government employees or elected officials, but persons.

YET WHEN THE PEOPLE SPEAK, THEIR VOICES ARE FALLING ON DEAF EARS. 

Deafened by cash, gifts, entitlements not earned by any other means but to give heedance to those already empowered. 

And the people continue to suffer. But they are not silent.

 Together, they gather and vent their grievances, plan communications with their government, and hold to their promised rights and liberties, all the while being stripped of them and limited by new laws. Until, one day, after a time...

There is honor in holding to truths, honor in defending those who cannot defend themselves. There is honor in demanding justice, and equality, for all under the law; and there is honor in demanding the laws be just and followed by even those who would make the laws.

But there is no honor in war. No glory in battle.

Battle, the acts during a state of war (and in many times during a state of peace) cause harm, destruction, and death. They hold a high price, even unaccountable by some measures, especially when compared to the miniscule cost of a movement toward peace or peaceful change. There is little glory in death, even when defending a purpose or ideal greater than accepted Gods, endangered family, or indebted friends. Death, the final sacrifice that one can give, is a final act of defiance in the face of adversity. You cannot repeat that action once done, nor repeal it's application, but only hope to honor it by following it with changing what has lead up to and caused it's appearance.

Wars are not impersonal, they affect everyone. They affect economics and environments. They affect every species that come close to it's boundaries and actions, and they affect them for far longer than the time it takes to fight, win or loose. We all loose in war. In battle we say we either won or lost, ground, men, ideas... We still loose. In war if we be victorious, we then survey the damages and losses on all sides...We still loose. Those costs are rarely repaid nor reclaimed, and many are uncounted. We loose so much because we, as fickle and impersonal as we have become, do not see that once we begin to attack and engage in battle, one side, or many, will loose the ability to hold to itself and it's goals and will be forced into something it does not belong to nor want. Sometimes that is forever.

We destroy the old and replace it with the new. We loose. We loose bits of identity when cultures are over run and replaced by different alien things. We loose languages, art, cultural histories that once stood out and became unique only to be redefined and judged against the new. We might believe that we have won, but the cost is almost always too high to bear.

I am no lover of war. I, much like most people, prefer peace. I'm not considered a pacifist by my peers, however I hold to debate, legal precedence, and mediation and negotiation of commonality and or compromise. I will defend myself, and those who cannot defend themselves, and that of my property, and my family when necessary. That too being my right. And I will do so by any and every means necessary based on circumstance, and here too ,I hold to peace and peaceful means as long as possible. But even the hardest steel can shatter under extensive pressure.

Change is inevitable, and we are in the constant field to implement and direct it. We are all accountable for it, and it will affect us all, in some manner or another. Our choices are independent and personal, the consequences, however, are another matter all together yet still are shared by all.

And one day, after a time....