Have you ever opened the television to watch the news but as you sit in your comfortable couch, you silently thought to yourself, “What’s the point?”
What was the point in watching? It will probably be the same old news about how a nation attacks or defeats another or probably how there’s a news about this celebrity that bought a million dollar necklace and how the same news is ironically followed by another news saying that Africans are dying because of dirty water.
In almost all speeches, especially by beauty queens and politicians during elections, it’s almost hard to miss the words “world peace”. What exactly is world peace anyway?
According to Wikipedia.org, World Peace is a state of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare wherein there is equality between all races and nations transcending beliefs and religion. And based on what I remember from my highschool world history class, the exact origin of the idea can be considered lost in time since it was already around ever since the era of the upright man began.
If it was already around that long, how come it still hasn’t been realized? You can read every reference in every existing library and still, you won’t find an era that can proudly say that they’ve achieved world peace and equality.
Even though it’s origin can’t be traced, the number one cause why it’s hard to achieve is quite simple. Have you guessed what it is? It is the one thing that binds you with probably almost every person you meet everyday. It’s non other than your “Race”.
It’s very ironic how the one thing that connects you with the stranger you meet in the hallway is the one thing that also separates you from the rest of the world. It is what I would like to call The Great Divide. Races push us to separate ourselves into nations which can then be divided into ethnicities followed by many more smaller groups.
What’s wrong with race you say? Here’s the catch. We are all born within a specific race and it is status quo to improve the standing of one’s race. How do we do that? By overpowering others of course!
In the long run, these competitions between races escalate to wars that produce another factor that will continue to widen the rift between nations — they are the Heroes of war. In my opinion, wars will never end because not only is there greed but also because in every generation, there will always be a hero to look up to who rose to fame by killing and conquering others for the sake of the “greater good”.
Other than races, there are many more things that hinder world peace and separate us from one another; we are divided by 7 continents, 196 countries, thousands of islands and not to mention the diverse religions, ideals, beliefs and many more. That is why philosophers believe that World peace is nothing but a surreal dream. They have come to a conclusion that humans have the innate tendency to separate from one another and aim for individual greatness but on the other hand, science also tells us that we also have an innate craving to disrupt the natural order of things.
Animals have no way of fighting their instincts but we humans do. Let us not be contented by the fact that nature has modeled us to grow apart from one another. I strongly believe that we are more alike than we are different from one another. Together, let us bring down the Great Divide.
Pelting Writes 
Races and World Peace. As long as the word race sounds like the word race in which people run to defeat others, there cannot be world peace. But you know that, peltingrain, don’t you?
The world needs more like you who feel from the heart, and express just what they feel. With umpteen efforts, there might be beginnings of change. Just like they are happening in small pockets all across the world. That’s where the saving grace is. No?
Thanks. Maybe we should start by replacing the word race? And whether weather, you flatter me too much. 🙂 To be honest, the thought about race being likend to the “race” where people compete never crossed my mind unil now. Funny how I explained that races are born to compete with one another in a few paragraphs while you’ve summarized it in a sentence.
Thankfully, hope is still not lost. As much as there are people who intentionally hinder the realization of world peace, there’s also as much people who want change. The only sad part is that majority of the latter comes from people who are mostly unheard while the former is comprised of mostly people in power.
The sadder part is that if the unheard of get power, they become like the people in power.