The Quest For World Peace, A Proposition Doomed To Fail

Can The Never-ending Dream Of World Peace Become Reality?

By: almunthir Alghamdi

World peace, peace be upon you, peaceful protests, peace of mind, these words have been mouthed a lot, but do they mean anything?

Peace is a word that is in the category of the word “Love”, which is the category of words that have lost their meaning. And the main reason it’s in that category is because of the excessive use of the word. One of the most glaring examples of it is in pageantries, where contestants talk about wanting world peace but offering no substance to how they would accomplish it. Is world peace even possible or is it just a myth?

Religion is always the answer?

Islam’s main greeting is peace be upon you, and Islam means (Salaam) which is peace in Arabic, yet ISIS exists, and so does radical Islamic terrorism.

Christianity has a famous phrase that says “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Jesus Christ, English Standard Version (Luke 6:27–31) An interesting quote from the Bible, yet the KKK exists, burns crosses and uses the Lord’s name in vain.

Peace is an important belief in Judaism, but millions died in the Holocaust. Members of the Jewish community will often greet each other by saying “Shalom”, which is a Hebrew word meaning peace and prosperity, yet violence with the Palestinian people and Israelis for the right to call Jerusalem home has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

More people have died in the name of religion wanting peace. So, is religion a good or bad thing? Would the world be better off if there were no religions? To have a belief is important to many and provides instructions on how people are to live a prosperous life. It can help people cope with their environment and deal with mental illness, but the most important thing religion provides people with a purpose.

Ego – (not everything is about you.)

The I, me, the why me, the selfishness, and the entitlement mentality, the feeling of I’m the right and the others are wrong, is always the main reason for every single problem in the history of mankind.

From the ego of Adam and Eve and their need for power that caused them to eat from the forbidden tree in Haven to the ego of Saddam Hussain that made him invade another country just to prove he can.

Then there is Donald J Trump who refused to concede the US Presidential election and take part in a peaceful transfer of power. Ones inability to see their own flaws, and the constant blaming of others, can be seen as a precursor to war as they are unable to take responsibility for their actions.

 Peace and Politics

The combination of peace and politics is virtually impossible. We can summon up politics by using the famous saying of Niccolò Machiavelli “The ends justify the means.”

No amount of values nor religious beliefs can be taken into account while making a political discussion. Case in point, America fleeing Afghanistan after decades of occupation under the pretence of fighting al-Qaeda. Helping the Afghan people form a democratic government, at times appeared to be a falsehood.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in response to 9-11 but stayed for the countries natural resources such as oil, opium, saffron and the world’s largest lithium reserves, which is a key component of the semiconductor industry.

And let’s not forget America’s unacceptable lie about the chemical weapons when they invaded Iraq and became occupiers. They were ultimately driven out of the country along with their failed attempt to establish a democratic government based on western ideologies.

China is another great contender for being the worst “peaceful” communist country in the world. They continue to support the dictatorship of North Korea while appeasing their quest to become a nuclear state.

Then there is the never-ending feud between China and Taiwan and China and Hong Kong, where the Chinese government has prevented all efforts by them to become autonomous countries.

Although there are international organizations put in place to prevent wars from breaking out, such as the United Nations (UN), it is seen by many as a laughable organization. They lack the real power to corral or manage any of the world superpowers.

The UN is mostly funded by the United States who also happens to be one of the worlds biggest abusers of human rights and home to the worlds most powerful war machine.

Perfection, that’s how world peace should be treated. A perfect thing that we should always try to achieve, even though we know really well that it is impossible to achieve. The harder we try the more delusion takes over tricking the mind world peace is a realistic, achievable proposition.

-If you want peace, prepare for war-

Vegetius fl. ad 379–395

Roman military writer