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John Lennon once sang: War is over, if you want it. Unfortunately, as much as most of the world wants an end to war, too much of human history tells us that there are those who seem to feel as though war is the solution to all of their problems. It is the way to imagine the world. Lennon’s Imagine was an effort to say: Can you imagine peace? For those who see war as a solution, they imagine peace as being solved if their opposition is simply ground into the dust. Outside of a very, very small group of people, the vast majority of people living in the world simply want peace. They desire stability. They want a warm meal in their stomach, shelter that protects them from weather, and the ability to live safely.
Throughout human history we have faced continued, ongoing bloodshed in different era. Globally, war would happen frequently. Around the world, you could have multiple regional wars at the same time. As communication improved around the world, things slowly changed. World War II was such a shocking event that it slowed large-scale wars to a crawl. While skirmishes and terrorism have certainly remained significant global problems, we continue to look for new ways to make peace rather than new means for war.
What causes that to happen? Steven Pinker at Harvard talked to the BBC and had a few ideas about what may be next for humanity.
Part of what makes peace possible is that our culture is changing, and communication tools change along with it. No device has done more for the opportunity of peace than the ability to record in video. At first it was TV crews with film. Then video recorders. Now it is the cellphone. The ability to capture violence and instantly send it to a larger community lets all of the world see that something is wrong and that there are people who do not tolerate it. This doesn’t mean that someone should not intervene at every effort—don’t sit by and film and do nothing, as an example, but it does mean that for a global community, atrocities are relayed immediately and that spread of information is toxic to those who feel as though violence will get them any end goal they desire.
Before we drown in desperation over the negatives in the world, know that there is hope out there for peace. As long as we are willing to strive for it.
While this is certainly a week to talk and think about peace, I look back at the last 20 years of Daily Kos (Daily Kos turns 20 this year!) And I think what a journey it has been! Born in so many ways out of the Iraq war, and it took until Daily Kos was 20 years old before President Joe Biden was able to successfully pull our troops out of that endeavor.
With Daily Kos 20th anniversary coming up, what kind of surprises for that kind of birthday party do you think staff is already considering? It’s a big one. Two decades here at Daily Kos. I wouldn’t miss a moment of it.