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Albert Einstein once said that "the pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service." For far too long, humanity itself has been divided not only by individual fear that is projected outward but also by religious and political leaders who understand how to exploit such fear and keep themselves in power. They understand that the masses are gullible and easily frightened by an "enemy" - especially one that is carefully fabricated.

But true and lasting peace is only available through understanding how another is like you, warts and all. True peace is only available by accepting ourselves and then projecting and teaching the peace that arises from such a loving inner state. Power through force TEACHES only power through force, and then the world becomes a dangerous place indeed. Power gained through the possession of a gargantuan nuclear weapons arsenals TEACHES ONLY how power can be gained through the possession of gargantuan nuclear weapons arsenals. And so the insanity of war continues, but only now the stakes are much higher. In many ways, the Orwellian nightmare has come to fruition - dependent on a populace that is not questioning, but rather running towards a suicidal cliff en mass. Marianne Faithful once asked in a song "What are you fighting for? IT'S NOT MY... SECURITY." Certainly not. So ask yourself if peace itself is really what you want... or could it be something else? A target to suffer the slings and arrows of our own collective anger, fear, and feelings of inadequacy?

Peace is never a natural outcome of dehumanization or bomb tossing - no matter how we try to justify it as such.

As the famous Nazi , HERMAN GOERING once said and I quote, "Naturally, the common people don't want war... but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."

Indeed it does. Goering knew well how to saddle up the patriotism and ride it into whatever illegal invasion was necessary.

But I would hope that we the people will come out of our storm-trooper stage and demand that our resources are spent on something other than weaponry, the creation of enemies, and the solidification of empire. We are better than that, we deserve better than that. We are all on this precious blue orb together and we are here to understand our inherent unity. We are here to rejoice, celebrate, and love - believe it or not.

I am still confident that our consciousness will rise to a place where spending trillions on destruction is no longer palatable, no longer heroic, sexy, or justifiable in any way.

After all, that is what consciousness does - it evolves.

Learn more about this author, Katherine Carlson.
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