I have looked, as deeply as possible, into my mind and my memory, and I have tried to recall all that I have heard, read and thought about pacifism. I have seen it all from the point of view of the convinced pacifist, and so my paper may be one-sided, and open to criticism. I am sure you will put your finger on that.
The narrative is personal: it seems easier to get the arguments in some sort of order, when I group them according to my own development.
When a Swede, whose country has been out of war for 135 years, starts writing about pacifism, it is like the son of a millionaire praising poverty. It must seem presumptuous. So let me tell you first of all that I realize the weight of the argument that only those who have actually experienced the immense difficulties of the pacifist position should be entitled to write about pacifism.
This pamphlet should be looked upon as a plea for pacifism. I do not think pacifism is on the way out. But some people apparently do: to those people these pages should be an attempt to stop pacifism on its way out, and have it turn back again to live among us.
