The rise of violent groups such as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Nigeria’s Boko
Haram, is an indication that despite all the achievements in the material
world, the human race has failed to evolve emotionally and intellectually. We
have collectively failed to understand that co-existence is the only option for
all of us unless we find another planet to inhabit. What is the point of being
perpetually in a state of war (however compelling the issues) when none of us
can escape the consequences of a war of civilizations?
So what do violent groups across the world want?
Under the guise of oppression, religious zeal or righteous anger, the common
thread running through violent groups is a thirst for power and resources. The
power to influence world opinion, the power to manipulate money and weapons and
oil, the power to dictate culture and religion and the power to penalize those
who do not toe the line. Now, by this definition can you really differentiate
between ISIS, Boko Haram, America, Israel, Russia, China, Yemen, Pakistan, or any
other center of bloody conflict in the world?
These conflict
generators appear different on the face of it, but when you rise above the
cacophony of sound and show they make of their ‘justified cause’, you can see that
they are all comrades in arms. One group may say we are being oppressed so we
fight, another may say our way of life is being threatened so we fight and yet
another may say my religion/ideology is indisputable so it’s either ‘my way or
the high-way’ for you pal!
History is proof that whenever different ethnic
groups attempt to wipe out each other completely from the face of the earth, that
purpose is never fulfilled by human conflict. Only natural disasters have the
potency to wipe out entire civilizations. So my suggestion to all war-mongers
is to please try to master nature first and then turn your weapon towards
fellow humans. That way at least you will be kept busy and innocents who have
nothing to do with your skewed life-view can avoid suffering and persecution.
On a more practical note – yes it’s an unfair world.
Someone has more oil and we need that to carry on with our ‘modern’ lives; yes,
someone has been manipulating world media to propagate lies about you just
because they can; yes, some people live in obscene luxury while you live in
dirty, stinking hovels fighting over a loaf of stale bread; yes, in some
cultures women can happily run around naked and not be raped; yes, you can no
longer wish away the internet or movies or television or spying satellites in
the sky; and yes, acquiring that nuclear arsenal does seem mandatory for negotiations
and survival.
But, could you all please take a moment to breathe
deeply the sweet scent of Mother Nature and allow us gentle peace-lovers to not
live under your ominous shadow. We rather believe in live and let live. We
don’t want to bear the brunt of your bloody conflicts. We too have problems but
we believe in ‘talking it out and listening and negotiating’. We believe in
‘fair competition and sharing of resources’ with our fellow-beings. We believe
in ‘respecting individual rights for choosing a way of life’. We believe ‘weapons
are ok as deterrents but please don’t actually use them as life is precious and
so is planet earth’.
Stop building up
arsenals capable of wiping out the planet as it took billions and billions of
years for us to get here. Let us build and not destroy the gifts bestowed on
us. Try to rise above petty power play and desire for world dominance, to
genuinely reach out to each other and negotiate peace. Let ethnic groups ‘talk’
to each other. Let the middle ground be reached in long-standing conflicts,
with all sides compromising just a little to reach common ground. Let efforts
be made to leave natural resources in the care of indigenous ethnic groups as
their natural right by birth.
The poor need help the world over. Destitution and
depravity are a potent mixture to breed envy, anger and violence. As a means of
escape from abysmal living conditions, any ‘cause’ can appear ‘glorious’. So
instead of bloating over your ‘luxurious lifestyle’ get out there and share
your food with the hungry fellow so that instead of gunning you down he becomes
your friend and expands your life experience. You may think it’s not my
problem, I didn’t ask that chap to not educate himself or work hard to improve
his lot, so how am I to blame? I didn’t ask him to remain cocooned in an
outdated ideology or ask him to keep his woman suppressed. I didn’t stop him
from embracing the wonders of modern science and technology. I have simply
evolved better and improved my lot, so how am I to blame?
My answer to that is all boundaries are man-made.
Take responsibility for your fellow beings, human, animal and botanical. Did
you not tell that chap his way of life is regressive? Don’t tell him how to
treat his woman, let her do it instead. Change comes from within. Don’t force
it; let them sort it out on their own. Educate and equip the woman if you must
but let her make her own decisions.
Did you not use your sophisticated technology to
first create a demand for your material marvels and then proceed to bombard
that chap’s home with them whether he needed them or not? Did you not try to
control what he views on television, what news he gets, what goods he uses,
what clothes he wears and what food he eats? Did you not try consciously to
change his very way of thinking in an attempt to make a clone of yourself?
Did you not form
world bodies in business, trade, currency, conflict resolution, weapons’
control and humanitarian aid, and then covertly proceed to control and
influence decisions of these so-called world organizations? Did you not attempt
to keep ‘rogue’ states out of the ambit of these ‘world bodies’? Isn’t this
hegemony under the guise of ‘world co-operation’?
Human protocol demands that you offer help when
asked for. Don’t interfere in problem areas unless asked to. Let bi-lateral
issues remain so. Don’t play big brother, judge and executioner across the
world. Often what you see as a ‘problem’ or ‘threat’ is just a private affair
between indigenous ethnic groups. Watch but don’t interfere. When you run out
of oil, don’t sabotage, form a trade pact. Look for alternate energy sources
and reduce oil dependency. If you envy another’s progress, make some of your
own; don’t resort to violence. And as far as religion is concerned it is as
sacrosanct for others as it is for you; so keep out.
Dear reader, please share your views.
