It Starts With You

 

 

The world’s war and peace situation will never be addressed as long as the major powers continue to hold on to their weapons of mass destruction.  Inspectors are not needed in countries like the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China in order for the world to know that they already possess these offensive and criminal nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and long-range missiles.  Yet children in those countries are not dying from sanctions or bombing.  Why is it a crime for Iraq and other nations to seek these weapons but not for the so-called “great powers”?  But as someone once said, the world knows that they fail to match power with responsibility and have licensed themselves to be shepherds who prey on their sheep.  We cannot grasp the fact that while most American, English, French, Russian and Chinese children enjoy their playgrounds in safety, children in other nations are mutilated and killed by American and English bombs and mines.

Permanent members (U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China) of the security council are promising security to the world while their arsenals posses such destructive power that it is enough to destroy, even by mistake, what they claim to secure.  Would it not be wise for the people of a planet tormented by fear and greed make a Security Council for themselves made up of countries that do not posses weapons of mass destruction?  And would it not be wise for that Security Council to be a group of countries that represent all religions?  Would a mature humanity still talk about crusades and holy wars?  How objective could a world security council be when four out of five of its members are Christian nations?  Would Pakistan, a Muslim country, be a permanent member of the Security Council if it had 6,000 nuclear bombs? 

If today’s authorities in every country were honest enough to entertain these thoughts, perhaps the world could be saved from the coming omnicide.  But in reality, the politicians or the soldiers cannot save the world, only the ordinary peoples.  Only when the people heal their fears and greed and give their extra money to relieve their neighbors, will omnicide be avoided.  They will have to abandon the idea of stocks and giving their money away without knowing who will finally get it and what they will do with it.  If people cannot do that, then it seems like they will run to the caves soon.  Their leaders will not be able to save them.  They will realize that all writings and talks were in vain because they did not accept and practice the truth that “your brother is the same as you”.  Probably the very few who will survive will learn to share in the caves, and they will learn that we are all one. 

In matters of conscience, numbers are meaningless.  If we do not care for the beggar at our doorstep, we will not care for the thousands of people dying everyday in our world in agonizing death inflicted by our tax money.  Only if we unconditionally care for our friends and family will we care for the suffering of the people on the other side of the globe.  We need to start where we are.  How many people practice the exhortation “if you have two, give one to the one who has none?”  If we know the answer, then we know the future.  Do not judge this message as religious, atheist, political or propaganda.  Just try to practice what you know is the only way to have peace on earth.  You might say “But there is no hope because there is too much ignorance around ready to destroy life.”  That might be true, but do it anyway because that is our duty and that is the way we find true happiness and meaning in life.  Socrates said: “An unexamined life is not worth living.” How does the abolition of these terrible weapons start?  IT STARTS WITH YOU.

Mr. Andreas Toupadakis, Ph.D. is a Former Research Scientist of Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.