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Can we stop war or terrorism? Perhaps we should first ask ourselves - what is the root cause of it? Both scenarios could be defined as a conflicts. And conflicts are created by the interaction of two egos. So, to say this differently, the heart of the problem is the "ego" which leads to conflict, which could lead to various forms of aggression such as war or terrorism. Now ca we remove the ego? The answer is no. Ego is what defines us as entities, is what makes us try/compete and became better as a whole. Without it, our civilization and we will not exist. Then, we could perhaps tailor down our ego? Well, I don't think that will work either. Only time could adjust our ego for the best. Such adjustment is not something that could be forced upon. To conclude with a real example from our history, to either remove or tailor down our ego - there was an ideology in the past that tried to do just that. It was implemented forcefully upon many countries and cultures. It was promoted as communism, where "all people are equal". In all instances failed miserably. Of course, they could not alter the ego instead the ego adjusted itself into deviant forms causing mass corruption and terror. In the end the whole society ended up in a failure. I think, this example is relevant enough to prove that we cannot mess around with the "ego". Well then, if we cannot do anything about the ego what else can be done to prevent war and terrorism? Perhaps we could avoid the conflict between egos to happen? The conflict between egos is why egos exist in the first place, to interact. Without it the existence of egos will be irrelevant. So, this is yet another thing we cannot change. So, then, the only thing left is to stop conflicts of egos to degenerate in war, terrorism or any other form of violent expression. Well, you will say, we already do that! Or do we? You probably think about all the peaceful negotiations in order to avoid a violent conflict or most often to stop it. Or maybe this doesn't really work - or else how come there is still so much violence around the world. Maybe the key is not to avoid the conflict or trim it down. As I said before conflict has to exist as much as ego does. Then what? I think, we should let the conflict exist. However instead of a violent expression in a form of war or terrorism we should choose a more evolved, intelligent way to do it. Think, many thousands of years ago, most primitive humans will express their ego with brute violence, because that was the only way they knew to impose their ego. Nowadays most of us set for more intelligent form of conflict such as verbal - the use of language to set differences or organized fair play competitions. Unfortunately, and even most unfortunately, politicians, think that ultimate way to settle a conflict is yet that primitive violence. Now, some of you might wonder, what is that wrong with violence, after all it's a natural instinct? True, however we call ourselves intelligent beings and as we are our power of destruction inevitably increased over time so much that in the end could only lead to our own extermination. In the time of cave man, the casualties will be few - now there could be everything we know alive. So we cannot play this card anymore. The truth is that violence never solved a conflict. Obliterating the opponent doesn't mean that you solved a conflict and in no way proves you as a winner. Let think of the following scenario. Two people argue about something. Then this degenerates in a fight. In the end, one of the guys force down the other guy to give up. Does this mean that who won the fight also won the argument? The answer is no. In the mind of the guy who was beaten down most certainly the argument is now even stronger. And if there is nothing he can do now, however it will take every opportunity come back on his opponent most likely with violence as well. So, everything becomes a vicious circle which in some cases will only end up(if) when one of the parts sis to exist. Then question is, will then who ever is still alive have won? There answer is no because there is no longer a different opinion to argue about. And think about it, with no one having a different opinion we will not be what we are now. So how can this be avoided? At the individual level only one thing could work and that is education. And again, not education pointing out why this is bad but rather education orientated towards showing the individual how to express his aggressive instinct into a more intelligent non-violent way. A lot of the education now is down in denial by using labels such as "bad" or "wrong" things should not exist. Well, the reality is that all these things exist and are part us. In many cases they are in balance that creates the dynamics of life, such as good and bad - you cannot take one away because the other will stop to exist as well and everything will come to a standstill. Instead we should acknowledge in our education that these things we are and that the only thing we should do is to maintain the balance and avoid the extremes. Violence is not an option but just a primitive instinct. And we, as an intelligent being, have the option to educate ourselves to do better. Now, if only most people could learn and understand this, then violence will be stopped. Written By: Larry O. Lart, 10th of January 2002 |