As I grow older and consider how precious human life is, enough to say that I am against the death penalty (anti-abortion-rights losers, this is not for you), I find myself questioning whether there are different, less lethal ways to seek freedom. I wouldn’t say I’m more likely to wield a paintbrush or a sewing needle with war around me, but those avenues of aid would be my first choice and have been my first choice. Perhaps, when the time comes for the people of the world to finally imagine a path to freedom and seize it violently en masse, I’ll be a benefactor, a painter documenting the times, a sewist mending uniforms, a strategist, or a mathematician before I take up arms.