Answering the Call Table Topics

Table Topic questions are meant to stimulate family and classroom discussion.
Use the questions below after reading,"Answering the call to arms."

During wartime, the stakes are high -- and feelings run just as high, often creating conflict and division. During WW I, pacifists clashed with interventionists, Wobblies battled timber management and German Americans were looked upon with grave suspicion. Suspicion is a powerful emotion. What happened to Japanese Americans in World War II? Where in the world today has suspicion poisoned relations between neighboring ethnic, tribal or religious groups? Is it possible to re-establish trust between distrustful peoples? What political efforts on behalf of peace have been effective or ineffective?
The war experience tested the nation as a complex melting pot society. Some immigrants were eager to support their new nation. Others felt loyalty to the old country and its historical perspectives. Still others wanted to leave the wars and politics of Europe behind and resisted involvement, while African American soldiers fought to defend a country where they did not enjoy full civil rights.
As America becomes ever more diverse, is it possible to get a national consensus on the waging of war? What circumstances, if any, do you feel justify war? How do you feel about American soldiers in Bosnia, Haiti and Somalia? The recent war in Iraq? What are and were the purposes of these military missions? Do you think they were successful?
Before radio and television, newspapers offered the only connection to dramatic world events. Urgent headlines communicated absolutely vital news, especially after Seattle began sending its sons to the battlefields. Coded whistle blasts brought people from all over town to Times Square plaza outside The Seattle Times building, making the war a deeply shared experience. Is there anything similar to this kind of communal gathering in our lives today? The Vietnam War was a television war. How did the medium impact coverage and community response? What other experiences have our citizens shared through television? Do you think electronic sharing is just as powerful?
Towards the war's end, an influenza epidemic swept the country, killing 10 times more civilians than soldiers. When the casualties of Vietnam War were added up, they didn't surpass the body count from traffic fatalities. Despite the numbers, why do war time casualties have such an impact on a nation's psyche? Do we feel more social responsibility for wartime dead? Should the young die for "old men's wars?"
Look through the newspaper today for war coverage. Do copy and photographs sometimes convey mixed messages? Do the emotional images of war motivate peace initiatives or stimulate feelings of revenge? Do you think viewers have become desensitized to the suffering of war from media overexposure?
The war made an impact on Seattle's economy that can still be felt today. Military demand for biplanes, timber and ships spurred the growth of the emerging Boeing Company, the timber industry and the shipyards. How dependent is our economy on the military now? What local industry that suffered during the war is making a resurgence in our own day?