Peace

As an anti-war supporter, I am surely upset by the war in Darfur. (Reuters) It is reported that the war has been going on for four years and lots of people fled to refugee camp from their home in the region. The annoying point is that the report pointed out the militants, who want to topple the government, were assumed to be supported by the outsiders.

Outsiders - logically I suppose it is coming from some wealthy countries, likely in the West. I do not understand what the outsiders are thinking. Is it that interesting to see others fighting against each other? After thousands years of civilization we still cannot get over from the desire of power and fighting. Evolution does not help much. As I said, war is the most destructive weapon, the question that why people are keen on fighting is always without answer.

It is somehow special to look at the point a senior U.N. official said - "For peacekeeping, there must be a peace to keep."

So, where's the peace?

After reading Bertrand Russell last year, I agree that man is combative. Nevertheless as he pointed out that some places can keep the peace, I also believe there is such a possibility that people will find a genuine peace. We like to compete, gain power, be prominent and such and such which is all about ambition, but we can settle the desires down in a more peaceful way. War is not necessary. Violence should be prohibited.

Perhaps it is nothing good to just complain, but we should consider the reasons behind. In recent decades after the Second World War, we seldom hear any conflicts which involve Europe (except Britain having cooperation with the U.S. in the Middle East). Very little or even no news somehow means a place to be peaceful. Consider the frequency of hearing anything from countries like Canada, Finland, Sweden or Switzerland, I can hardly remember anything very special happened there.

Wars are found mostly in the Middle East, Africa and some few backward places in the Pacific region. Compared these areas with the countries I mentioned above, they are apparently more backward and impoverished. People living there are usually less educated. It only reveals one point - people have to be well educated, in order to transform the mindset and get the ambition under control.

One may argue that the war can happen only because they have supports from the wealthier power, as I also doubt the motives of the supports in the very beginning. However, it is important to realize that it is not a one-way matter. People may choose not to accept any so-called "support" to continue the war; instead they can refuse and harmonize the situation. If one on any side changes its mind not to keep fighting, the situation will be completely different. In my opinion, education is one of the few ways out.

Education needs enormous resources, which most of those places lack. That is why there are a lot of aids, funding and sponsorships coming from outside. (I do consider this as somehow irony since it is all about the outsiders, regardless of fighting or peace-keeping.) However, the support seems unlikely to be enough and hardly to be managed properly. Some people help with a mind that they think they're superior. Helping others is just a way to show their superiority. If they think in this way, the problem will be hardly solved. We always have to keep in mind that everyone is equal, in terms of the rights of receiving education and being a human. Despite the fact that I think some people must be more talented, wealthier and more powerful, everyone should be deserved an opportunity to receive a basic, equal education.

Certainly there're many people holding the same thought as mine, and I am surely not the first one to invent all these words. However it is important to have gone through all of the thinking process, which leads us to really understand what is going on and how to cope with it. This is a sort of independent thinking.

Also, although I am pessimistic about curing the matter, which peace is unlikely to exist owing to our nature should not be an excuse. Particularly if we are truly aggressive and more intelligent than the other organisms, I do not see any cue that we cannot live in concord.

This is old-fashioned, but still we have to support keeping peace. Not only mental support, but actual support is needed.