While the major focus on American society is who they are getting ready to vote for in November, there are still two wars being waged on two different fronts. Three, if one is counting the secret war on our civil liberties being waged since the the introduction of the Patriot Act. Despite our country not being on the front lines of this ever-growing unjust invasion of a military operation, the battle has definitely hit home hard. In every IED there is a backlash and shock wave that tears a hole inside a loved one's heart. The men who return can suffer anything from permanent lost of limbs to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, resulting in suicide or murder. In the killing fields of war, sanity is always the first casualty. The collapse into madness can turn the most virtuous of us all into a blood lusting maniac.
This world is full of war- old wars, new wars, holy wars, greed wars. War brought to you by your favorite greed-filled corporate sponsors. There are at least seven major armed conflicts within the world today, and over 27 smaller scale armed conflicts dating all the way back to 1949. Wars have been waged since the beginnings of civilization's documentation. The enlightened continually asking "Why?", while the opportunistic ask "Why not?". The conspiracy theorists claim that wars are the spawn of profiteers' bottom lines being met, or the totalitarianism's wet dream of populous control. However, I believe that war is so ingrained into our culture that it is hemorrhaging from our media's seams. From M.A.S.H. to MSNBC it has not only has become a popular point of American culture, but world culture as well.
From the bystander, a conscientious objector who has little to no direct or indirect involvement with making military decisions in any country, wondering how it all could have gone so wrong is a valid feeling. The next logical line of thinking is usually along the lines of what can be done. As with all tough questions, there is no easy answer. However, everyday that passes brings more hope that even the bystander can become a champion of justice and virtue. Weapons on Chinese ships were turned away on African coasts by workers- everyday pier workers taking a stand against war, using their actions to say "we don't want your weapons, we don't want your war".
For the the average person, it's easier to feel fear for their own and for their loved one's well-being. It is horrifically easy for a survivor in a war-torn nation to become a casualty statistic. People flee their homes. Societies grind to a halt. National treasures, even historical artifacts, criumble and burn beneath the heels of military might. It's all too frantic to question why until one has already reached safety, or can safely stop. Survival is a primary objective of human nature when one is being shot at.
Why do we fight? Is it indocrinated into our minds through constant conflict and media manipulation? Or is it implanted into the nature of mankind to cause his own genocide? Whatever the cause of it all, we as the human race need to outgrow this primitive need to exert dominance with force. It is within our unlimited ability to evolve past the dependence of armed combat, past the dependence to quell opponents with death. As a society, as a community of people, we are holding the power to stop bloody wars and conflicts amongst ourselves. The death-grip strangle of fear, rage, and hate must be brought to an end, and there can be no better time than the present.
-A Seeker Of Truth.
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