It was 1969, and war raged in Vietnam. The newly-wed Lennons had a message to share with the world: war is over, if you want it. They rented a room at the Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal, got into bed, and invited the world into their room. They talked, and sang, and used John’s fame as a Beatle to get their message across. “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
Such a simple message. Yet, forty years later, what has really changed? The war is in a different country. Millions more have died violently, including Lennon. Nowhere is there any indication that peace is any nearer than it was in 1969.
It saddens me to see people like Ono, or 89-year-old Pete Seeger, still out performing for peace. Not only have we not achieved an end to war, we don’t even have younger people willing to take up the work.
I do understand why. I was one of the tens of millions around the world marching to protest just before George W. Bush went into Iraq. The result? Bush remarked: "Size of protest — it's like deciding, well, I'm going to decide policy based upon a focus group", and continued to do exactly what he had planned to do. If the voice of millions doesn’t matter, why bother?
But of course it does matter, even though that is hard to see sometimes. We can have a peaceful world, despite the Bush types, if we are determined enough.
I have a quote from John Lennon that I use on some of my email: “When we say ‘War is over if you want it,’ we mean that if everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we'd have peace.”
How many TV sets do you own?
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