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Up and down the former thirteen colonies, you can find amateur reenactment societies devoted to the demonstration of the American Revolutionary timeperiod, and indeed, for just about every conflict, war, skirmish, and battle America's been involved in, there's a fan club that plays the parts of friend
and foe on the battlefield.
It makes for an interesting afternoon's outing for families, I suppose.
But is history nothing more than the accumulation of conflicts and bloodshed? (Okay, so maybe it's close to that). What we need are reenactment societies that demonstrate the historical peacable resolutions of conflicts. The near-wars avoided by gutsy decisions, cool-headed soldiers, accidental or on-purpose. Wear the costumes, talk in the language of the day, and expose *them* for all their glory, subconsciously teaching conflict resolution to the masses.
Somewhat Related Idea
http://www.halfbake...ague_20Of_20Nations
[theircompetitor, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]
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Would go well with my pet project of rewriting important tragedies so that people just calm down, misunderstandings are cleared up, and nobody gets hurt. |
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"Oh, so it's war, is it?!"
"No, I said, 'It's warM.'"
"Oh. My mistake..." |
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I'll bet those are page turners, [jutta]. |
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Problem is, the peacefully resolved near-conflicts seldom make the history pages. Maybe they should. Any examples [RayfordSteele]? |
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How about reenacting the Northern Ireland peace talks, but using real politicians--and instead of the subject being Northern Ireland, it could be, say, the Basque Country...? |
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[RayfordSteele], an olive branch and a bun. |
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jutta could rewrite shakespeare - excellent idea! |
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The reenactment of peace is the stuff of a stage play. the battle reenactments are playing war in real time, A classic entertainment value. I wouldn't trade em. |
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I agree with dentworth's first sentence. Peace can make for drama just as compelling as war but is distinguished by being about words as much as action, so a re-enactment would be best suited to a stage.
As FarmerJohn pointed out, the Cuban Missile Crisis is one of the first examples that springs to mind and I've seen the (real) film of the Yugoslav governing council meeting where, despite the intimidatory atmosphere, the non-Serb members of the council refused to allow the imposition of a state of emergency. Fascinating stuff.
In response to jutta:
MACBETH: We will proceed no further in this business:
He hath honour'd me of late; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon
LADY MACBETH: Hmm! I see your point wise husband. Let us away from this draughty courtyard and hi us back to our warm chamber. Mayhap we can rescue aught of value from this wasted night, eh big boy? |
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//LADY MACBETH: Hmm! I see your point wise husband. Let us away from this draughty courtyard and hi us back to our warm chamber. Mayhap we can rescue aught of value from this wasted night, eh big boy?// |
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marvellous DB. <applause> |
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India and Pakistan come to mind. And a whole travelogue with Jimmy Carter. |
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I'd bet there are many that government types can't talk about that would read like Clancy novels. |
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There are probably others that government types won't talk about that would appear like "I Love Lucy" episodes. |
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Complete with Cuban accents. |
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In retrospect, it's easy to see that every historic tragedy owes its roothold to a crisis of less than 15 minutes duration; easily enough time to avert the overreaction sequence that would eventually consume lives, fortunes, or armies. |
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I really like this. I don't think that such important peaceable moments in history are emphasised enough. |
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<slight aside>
"The referee consults the linesman - no goal!..
...
Some people are on the pitch... they think it's all over...
but the referee has sent off Geoff Hurst. Play continues..." |
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I know that it isn't war - and is a fictional re-write - but after reading the annos about [jutta]s pet it just jumped into my head. (And props to DrBob) |
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(later: thanks [po] - I honestly knew the spelling but brain disengaged this morning
[britboy]: good choice - I recommend reading Beevor's 'Berlin' as soon as you recover from Stalingrad) |
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Good idea .. But the sad truth is, peace isn't as exciting as war. |
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I'm reading about Stalingrad at the moment. I think all politicians should be forced to read this book -- it truly puts war into its proper light. |
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britboy -- while you're at it, read some more about Stalin, East Germany, Chechoslovakia and Hungary. It'll trully put not going to war in the proper context as well. |
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One could also choose to portray what happened in those countries around 1989, or the fall of apartheid in South Africa, or mainland China and Taiwan’s decades-long delicate dance. |
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Reenact Kissinger getting the peace prize for the
Vietnam peaceful resolution. And then reenact the
Tamils. |
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// The violence itself is entertaining. // |
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The problem is how do you tell? George Washington probably prevented several wars by peacefully retiring at the end of his term as president, but it's debatable. |
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