If the principles of Pacifism are consistently put into practice the big guns will never he let off and the air• men will never he erdered to drop their bombs. The best way of dealing with typhoid is not to cure it, hut to prevent its breaking out. Pacifism is to war what clean water and clean milk are to typhoid; it makes the outbreak of war impossible. But though mainly preventive, Pacifism is also, as we shall see, a tech• nique of conflict-a way of fighting without the use of violence. If you treat other people well, other people will generally treat you well. It is possible to go further and to say that, if you have the opportunity of going on treating them well, they will at last invariably I reciprocate your treatment. Suspicious people may start by reacting badly; hut in the long run, trust, affection and disinterestedness will always he answered by trust, affection and disinterestedness. This fact, the truth of which we have all had occasion to demonstrate in our relations with our fellows, is the sure foundation upon which the theory and technique of pacifism are based. The theory and technique of militarism are based on a psychological assumption that is self-evidently absurd. The militarist sets out to secure other people's good will by making war on them-that is to say by treating them as badly as he possibly can. But it is a matter of everyday experience that if you treat other people badly they will answer (unless, of course they happen to he saints or trained pacifists) either by treating you badly at once, or if the power to return evil for evil is lacking, by waiting in fear, anger and hatred for an opportunity to treat you badly later on. Unless followed by an act of reparation, war will always he answered by war. Hate breeds hate, and violence, violence. In our relations with other human beings we have all of us, at some time or another, made use of the pacifist technique. By treating people well, we have prevented them from treating us badly or have per• suaded them to change their malevolence into kindness. More consciously and consistently, preventive pacifism 14 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
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