Thursday, February 05, 2004

"Before the terrifying prospects now available to humanity, we see even more clearly that peace is the only goal worth struggling for. This is no longer a prayer but a demand to be made by all peoples to their governments - a demand to choose definitively between hell and reason."
-- Albert Camus

Why should I struggle for material wealth (which I can't even prove exists) or fight for my country's glory? They're transient measures. These things are relative and ebb and flow in the stream that we call history. Technology really is quite grand. It has allowed an amazing level of interconnection between people. However, the flaw is that technology has evolved faster than our morals. So while we have invented ways to kill the world many times over or link each instantaneously, many people are still able to justify doing nothing and nuclear weapons are controlled by flawed people. I read this post on Bloodhorn.com post in which the person suggests that violence is simply a part of human nature. He said he learned this view in school. While I am here to tell him otherwise. There's two sides to every story and I hope he has an open mind to see such ideas. There's really no reason that the world has to be destroyed in an apocalyptic finale. If we choose for the world to become peaceful all we need is a small shift in perspective. I don't doubt that humans are violence, nay aggressive, but humans are balanced creatures. We also contain an amazing capacity of creativity and imagination. The key is to safely channel both of these influences. People paint and write books. Why can't people also do the same for aggregation. Take up Judo, boxing or Counter-Strike. This is a link to exactly such a group that is working to create such a change in perspective, the group includes writers, politicians and activists. Why do we separate the world into Us and Them? I suggest that everyone change their perspective slightly and see that all humans are just hurtling through a vacuum on a rock.

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