READING FOR

CRITICAL
UNDERSTANDING
THE PARADOX OF PREPAREDNESS FOR PEACE

That preparedness brings about peace is a false philosophy. On the

contrary, it usually results in war.
Take the case of two men who have just moved into a village. They live
side by side. They introduce themselves to each other and start to become
friends. One tells himself that for the sake of ensuring peace in the
neighborhood, he should take care not to infringe on his neighbor's rights.
But at the same time, he thinks of how he could protect himself and his
family against him. He goes to a store, buys a gun, and tells himself that if
his neighbor would interfere with him, he would not hesitate to kill him.
Without his knowing it, his neighbor who also proclaims his love for
peace, goes to town, obtains a gun, a better one, and gets himself ready to
defend his rights, honor,
family.
THE PARADOX OF PREPAREDNESS FOR PEACE

The case of these two men is similar to the case of two nations
who talk about their love for peace while boasting of their
battleships and their readiness to fight. They do not get a battleship
simply to boast of their acquisitions. They have it in preparation for
war. They are as determined to protect themselves from any attack
as a man who carries a gun. He has it for protection. However,
experience tells us that a man who carries a gun tends to use it on
slight provocation and tends to provoke its use by others.
Preparedness provokes trouble. Hence, it does not preserve
peace. We must
conclude that as a man who carries a gun is a menace to the peace
of a community, so the nation who keeps guns is a menace to the
peace of the world.
• Reading an argumentative/persuasive discourse
is an exercise in developing critical
understanding. You identify the issue, weigh the
arguments, and follow them in their logical
conclusion. You become discriminating,
checking out the facts, generalizing cautiously on
the basis of what you know.