The Price of Peace Essay Example for Free

The Price of Peace Essay I saw some children playing in our neighborhood the other day and the simplicity of how they lived their life amazed me. Here were two kids belonging to relatively the same age group; one had a Popsicle stick and the other had a pack of cookies. Now, I am sure both of them were quite curious as to what the other child had since they would look curiously at each other. Finally, after about a minute or so, the child with the pack of cookies approached the other child. At that point I wish I had the ability to speak the language of children because I have no idea what was said but when the child with the pack of cookies reached for the Popsicle, the other child simply gave him the liberty to taste it. What is even more astonishing is the fact that when the other child offered a cookie without any hesitations! Looking back at this, I would say it was a sublime experience for me. At that point, the world suddenly made sense to me. I thought to myself, â€Å"This is how life should be! † It’s simply living in utter understanding of your fellow man. I have no idea how the course of history shaped humanity into the beasts we are today. We put ourselves on a pedestal and think that our society has reached the pinnacle of success when in fact; we continue to spiral towards decadence. We have left a trail of war, violence, prejudice, and discrimination in our history and yet all we can say is that we have evolved into a more civil society! It is a false consciousness that has become the fabric of our world. Moreover, we have resorted to power and domination as tools to bring about what we refer to as â€Å"peace. † This is quite saddening but nonetheless, it is the reality we are faced with. As we grow and develop into the so called responsible individuals’ society demands, we continually lose the purity and simplicity we possessed as children. As we mature we become more jaded and as a result the lines of what is right or wrong blur before us. We lose touch of the most basic of values; that is to say, loving one another. A basic command left to us by Christ and the key to a utopian society. I came to realize that the world has been reduced to the tangible things; materials and objects have become what define a man. Consequently, it has also made us ego-centric. Our world has become about what I want and what I need†¦we have become apathetic to the plight of others and have been raised to be callous. We no longer have a sense of social equity or justice. As I reflect more on this, I become increasingly convinced that this is the root of all the chaos we have. No wonder we seek to engage in war and look to send our own people to foreign lands just to get slaughtered in the name of â€Å"democracy† and peace! You see peace may be an abstract thought to us simply because we have forgotten about how tangible it can be. It isn’t always about what makes us feel good or what benefits us. It’s about looking at a grander scheme wherein other people, regardless of color, race or creed become a part of who we are. This is a consciousness we must internalize and reintroduce into the fabric of society. Plato, Aristotle and Socrates spoke of this in varying degrees. It is about the common good. Not I but we. Looking back at the two children, it wasn’t about bartering or what one could get from the other. It was simply about understanding the needs of the other person. Applying this rudimentary ideology would be the key to a better society. What would I pay to achieve peace? Not millions in monetary value, not just because I don’t have this†¦well no one could actually put a price on peace. In the end, the price is simple; I would give-up my civil liberties in order for others live more comfortably. Quite a sacrifice, but it is a higher level of understanding we all have to achieve and one I would gladly pay in order to attain peace. After all, if everyone lived in this manner then establishing a world of peace would be child’s play so to speak!