The Road To Peace
When I first heard those words from Jon Larson’s musical, “Rent”, it was so profound to me that I sat there stunned, and don’t remember any of the rest of the show.
“The opposite of War is not peace. It’s Creation.”
What? Huh? What do you mean? Of course it is…
Wait, war is a huge, horrible, massive destruction. Peace is simply the cessation of that destruction. He’s right. The opposite of war is NOT Peace. And then the profound truth, the implications and ramifications of the second half of the quote slowly began to dawn upon me. Creation. Making, building…
At the time, I applied the notion to Palestine, and swiftly realized that if it were applied, rather than peace treaties, we’d be CREATING shipping routes, helping them to be able to grow their own food, take their own goods to market autonomously, so they weren’t at the whim and under the control of Israel… and then BOTH nations could have prosperity and sovereignty.
In the years that have passed since then, I’ve come to see this has many, many such applications, that it’s a universal truth.
Today is the last day of 2011. It’s been a very busy year for me and the entire world. We’re one day away from what some think may be the end of the world (according to the Mayan calendar.) I don’t give such unlikely prophesies much weight, but I DO know that if we don’t stop warring with our planet, it will be the end of the world as we know it.
I woke this morning at 6 am, with the above epiphany in my head, immediately rushed to write it down, to refine the idea a bit… and to share it with you, the rest of the world. The way to achieve peace on earth is to stop living in Dog EAT Dog fashion, to switch over to Dog FEED Dog lifestyles, in which everyone helps each other, guides and lifts each other up towards prosperity.
Know this: You cannot build walls and fences high enough, or guards and weapons strong enough, to stop the ravages of war. No Homeland Security can protect us. If it were able to do so, the price would be our very own liberty, and that price is far too dear. I don’t know of anyone willing to be locked in an airtight box for that kind of peace. All attempts to gain peace by destructive means are inherently doomed, destined to fail. (As the bumper sticker notes, fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.)
The ONLY way we can have a lasting peace is if everyone has prosperity, so they don’t need what we have. And as we share that prosperity with others, we build bonds and come to understandings that will keep us from fighting over differences in religion or beliefs. When it comes down to it, ALL living beings want the same things… and that isn’t at all hard to understand.
Prosperity is not mutually exclusive. Like the highest forms of love, it doesn’t cost to give. We have plenty on this planet, even for all seven billion of us. There’s still more than enough for us and for ALL sentient, sapient beings. No one has to do without. No one has to lose life or possessions, liberty or sovereignty, for this road to peace. We simply have to treat each other well, understanding and trusting that as our brothers and sisters gain, so do we.
Help each other up, please. Be loving to all creatures. The only road to peace is through universal prosperity.
I invite your comments and discussions below.