The Means are the Ends in the Making

“One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends by peaceful means.”
                                        — Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The means are the ends in the making” stands in stark contrast to the more commonly heard “the ends justify the means.”

This contrast reveals the cause-and-effect relationship between the means we choose and our desired ends. Because we don’t fully comprehend this relationship, we continue to teeter between these two concepts, sometimes using one to guide our actions, sometimes the other.

One of America’s founding heroes, George Washington, understood that means determine ends when he established a clear precedent against torture while he guided the Revolutionary War. Washington knew that torture would result in feelings of hatred and acts of revenge, undermining a peaceful outcome. After World War II, the U.S. military sentenced Japanese officers to hard labor for the practice of waterboarding. The drift into using torture during the last American administration became a slippery slope. Often unforeseen ends result from rationalizing thoughtless means.

War itself embodies the belief that “the end justifies the means.” Bombs—even “smart” bombs—cannot produce social justice, only justice can produce justice; only compassion can produce compassion, only peaceful means can produce and sustain a peaceful world.

Of course this principle is equally relevant to how we go about resolving our own personal conflicts. In relationships, in families, in local government, what means can we choose that will result in an outcome that is best for everyone?