Page 22 of The Strange War

we will one day need this basic attitude to a much greater extent than today: who can say that one day we won't have to defend our achievements, our position in the world with military means as well? When one day push comes to shove, when it's necessary one day to defend our culture, our values, and not least also our affluence and our pre-eminence in the world to the bitter end, it will then only be possible if a healthy, strong “Germany first,” “Austria first,” or “Europe first” attitude is firmly anchored as one of the basic values of our culture in the minds and hearts of the people. We have to understand that clearly; we can't allow ourselves to be deceived about that!

  A European

  The Bomb

  In the coffee house people were talking about what to do in case of a nuclear war. Mr. Balaban said, “If they drop the bomb, you should take a bath, wrap yourself in a white cloth, and walk slowly to the cemetery!”

  “Why slowly?”

  “So you don’t cause a panic,” said Mr. Balaban.

  Afterword

  Ever since I started writing books for children, I have considered it important to deal with the difficult subject of war and peace in a way that children can understand. It seems to me that it is not enough to tell children that war is terrible and that peace is much nicer. Although even that is a step forward, of course, considering there was once a youth literature that glorified the military and combat action. But most children in our latitudes know that war is something terrible and peace is much nicer. But is peace possible? Or is war an unavoidable destiny that keeps befalling humankind? Doesn’t our history class, as well as the evening news, teach us that war has always existed everywhere in the world and is still with us? A culture of peace, understanding of others, peaceful resolution of conflicts – all of that is well and good: but what if the others do not want to go along?

  I cannot imagine how we can banish war from the life of humankind, if we do not search for the causes of war. Only when the cause of a disease is discovered, can a focused and effective method be found to fight it.

  It is true that I just skipped all my history classes at university, but at home I have continued my studies of history for myself to this day because, as a writer, the question of what determines people’s actions and thoughts is naturally always on my mind. But of course I cannot claim to have found the philosopher’s stone or that in my stories I could absolutely explain the causes of war. And I also cannot present a complete recipe for the avoidance of future wars. But I want the stories to do more than just give people “food for thought.” Writers are always trying to give people something to think about, but at some point, someone is going to have to start thinking. The stories I have collected here are intended to suggest a direction in which a person can continue to think; they are intended to convey a feeling for where and how to search for the causes of war.

  Maybe the intentions of the book can best be summed up like this: I try to show how our actions can be interconnected in such a way, that the ones who do not try their best to further their own interests must perish. But that on the other hand by each of us trying to further our own interests we may in fact unintentionally increase the loss or make worse the damage for all of us. And that we cannot escape this dilemma unless we communicate with each other and coordinate our actions. This moral is simple enough, but the hard thing is to really see through the complex ways in which the actions of individuals, groups, nations, states on this planet are interconnected.

  I am trying to teach children to begin to recognize that sort of social mechanism, and I think that this is a novel approach in children's literature.

  The Dreamer took shape during a weeklong workshop, arranged by the cultural initiative “Fireworks” in the Oetz valley, Tyrol. The theme was “Free as the Wind and the Clouds.” There the children and I wrote a “Wind and Cloud Book.”

  I wrote The Blue Boy for the children’s television series “Siebenstein” presented by the German television network, ZDF. I wrote it shortly after the wall came down between East and West Germany in 1989, when the whole world was seized by a short-lived euphoria of peace. When the story appeared in a book, we had already experienced the Gulf War. This story is about the hardening of the soul that can produce fear. The point of the story is not that the boy throws away his gun in the end but rather why he throws it away. “Well, you could just throw away your gun,” is not enough. First there has to be hope for change.

  The Planet of Carrots shows how a specific social system can develop its own dynamic, so that it becomes very difficult to change anything in the system, and even those who are actually placed at a disadvantage by the system can become its defenders.

  Fear is an example of how we often do not use our reasoning power to find out how things really are, but use it only to justify our desires or urges, our fear or our hatred. The human being's ability to deceive itself is one of its most amazing qualities. In class you may want to find more examples with your students.

  The same paraonoid logic that is demonstrated in Fear is depicted in Fear Again, this time on the level of the state.

  The Strange People from the Planet Hortus is quite simply about the costs of waging war.

  When the Soldiers Came shows in a condensed form, which can already be understood by quite small children, that conquest and exploitation are the essence of war, not difference of opinion or race or culture or conflicting interests. It argues that an egalitarian society has no need for conquest whereas a hierarchical society cannot exist without conquest. The theme is expanded in Report to the United Solar System's Council.

  The Great War on Mars is an attempt to show how the fact that everybody pursues his or her own – actually harmless and even justifiable - self-interests can lead to results that nobody intended.

  When I tell the story I usually make a break after: “Maybe we should have given our field marshal the pink slip!” said the Moffers. I say: “Well, here the story must end, mustn't it? What else can happen now but wheeeee - WHAM!” I let it sink in for a few seconds, then I take up the story again and tell the happy ending, making it clear that this is not very likely to happen in real life.

  We often have very interesting discussions when I ask the children who was responsible for the whole desaster. Whoever they name, I defend them and show that they had good reasons for acting - or not acting - the way they did. I ask them: What difference would it make if one of the peasants refused to sell his potatoes to the army? Someone else would be able to sell even more potatoes and the peaceloving peasant might starve with his family. So if he can't make a difference, isn't he right to do what is best for his family? So what can be the solution?

  The theme is expanded in At Your Own Doorstep.

  The Sun and the Moon was first published in the magazine "Parenting" in India. It illustrates two points. The first one is,how religion will often be used to justify aggression, when really material motives are lie at the core of the conflict. There will always be bigots like Mrs. Pema or Mr. Tashi. But the crucial question is: Under what circumstances will they be able to gather a following, under what circumstances will political leaders like Mr. Dorji take up the cause of religion? The second point is of course that conflicts about resources can usually be resolved in more than one way and possibly a peaceful solution can be found. When discussing the story it should be compared to "When the Soldiers Came". What is the difference between the conflict between King Ubuk and King Babak on the one hand and the conflict between the villages of Tralang and Namkha on the other?

  The Slave is about how it can happen that people create systems of which they themselves become prisoners. You might want to ask you students why the slave only can think in terms of master and slave.

  I wrote The Farmers Who Were Good at Numbers after reading The Logic of Collective Action by the economist Mancur Olson. In this book, the author reliably demonstrates that it is theoretically impossible for a large group of individuals acting rationally in their own self-interests (this is the favorite m
odel of modern economics) to do something together for a common cause, even if everyone knows that it would be better for all if everyone committed themselves to this cause. He also shows why it is easier for smaller, more manageable groups to do something for a common cause than it is for really large groups.

  The Strange War shows a possible form of passive resistance. What kind of resistance is possible depends, of course, on the goals of the aggressors. If the aggressors are intent on wiping out the other nation, this form of resistance will not be possible. But most wars are waged to subjugate people, not to exterminate them.

  Arobanai is an account of the life of BaMbuti (“pygmies “) in the tropical forests of Congo as an example of the life style of hunters and gatherers. It is based on the research conducted by Colin Turnbull. All known hunter gatherer societies are egalitarian, with very weak leaders or none at all. They do not wage war because conquering more land would not make sense for them, as they would not be able to use it. They may fight with a neighboring group for such resources as a tree rich in honey or some such delicacy.

  That they do not wage war does not mean that they are not violent. The ethologist Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt pointed out that the Khoi
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