»Language is not the handmaid but the mother of our thoughts.« This sentence by Karl Kraus
stands behind the argumentation of this book. The author argues that certain ideas which
language suggests to us ('growthism'!) lead to war but making people aware of this may bring
about peace. Thus linguistics may turn human evolution into a new direction in which the joy
about peace surpasses all desire for acquiring more power.Language makes us think that large
fast strong etc. are good while small and slow are bad. Another way of thinking which comes
from language is thinking in contrasts (large : small good : bad etc.) which simplifies the
world for us by excluding the many stages in between. This leads to a thinking in terms of
friends vs. foes.The book also contains chapters on philosophers and peace e.g. Kant Bertrand
Russell Wittgenstein Schumacher (Small is Beautiful) on Religion War and Peace and on the
role of women in war.Finally the book suggests using music for avoiding war (Daniel
Barenboim's orchestra West-Eastern Divan!) and practicing sports which may unite countries but
also puts our desire for victory on to a peaceful level.
