WAR IS OVER! (IF YOU WANT IT)
By: Mikey Rome Dec 22 2022
WAR IS OVER (IF YOU WANT IT) A campaign that could be easily misconstrued by the simple phrase “If you want it”. The Ad was initially constructed by John Lenon and Yoko Ono to protest the Vietnam war. At first, it was the headlining phrase of a UNICEF relief concert held in 1969, featuring artists such as Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and Keith Moon, and later became the iconic phrase associated with Christmas as made popular by their song Happy Xmas (War is over!).
The song has become a Christmas classic, but the message behind the song has become lost with time. The song is overall positive and spreads the message of a new beginning and peace rather than highlighting the heart wrenching war, but the underlying message is perhaps even more powerful, the song itself and the underlying message behind the big letters “WAR IS OVER” Is the phrase “If you want it” because at the time, the people had the power to end the war if there was enough votes and enough of a movement to actually do something about it, the Counterculture movement of the late 60's and 70's put a lot of effort into trying to end the war with massive protests, benefit concerts, and other events bombarding the government to end the war.
The message now is as relevant as ever in politics and in war. The Russo - Ukraine War has been ongoing for over a year now and and although it and the Vietnam war are in no way the same, we could still be making more of an effort to help those caught in the crossfire of this war. While the US is not directly involved in the war, us and other countries have the ability to use our resources and efforts to help combat the violence as well as help the people fleeing the countries gain access to secure care a refuge. In 1995 Vietnam released its official estimate of the number of people killed during the Vietnam War: as many as 2,000,000 civilians on both sides. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., lists more than 58,300 names of members of the U.S. armed forces who were killed or went missing in action, Among many other countries that fought. As of November 10th 2022, there are over 200,000 reported deaths on all sides in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Although it is not being talked about as much in international media, the war is still an ongoing and very real act of violence against Ukraine, and with our support to the refugees and people currently in the war, we can at the least, help the people who are in need of safety. The same message also can apply to politics, especially in the USA, during this years mid-term elections, over half of the youth population in America did not vote, that is over 65 Millions people who did not vote, most of which simply because they believe that their vote will “Not make a difference” even though only a fraction of a fraction of all those peoples votes can enact great change in our local and national governments.
HATE IS OVER! (IF YOU WANT IT) and LOVE IS HERE! (IF YOU SPREAD IT) flyers were plastered along the streets to spread this same message early this December by us here at Down To Earth. In hopes that it will invoke what
the original movement stood for . We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
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