The first and only antonym that pops up on Microsoft Word when you seek to define the word “peace” is war. That means since our world is clearly not one of peace, we are at war. The enemy we struggle so hard to stifle is ambiguous in its foundation, but takes the form most prominently in violence, followed closely by poverty, hunger, and corruption.
It is in violence, though, that we most clearly envision a world of stability and tranquility. How easy it would be to live in a world that needed only to maintain peace, because it had already established peace long ago. The ironic thing about violence is that it seems to be the only consistent reminder of peace. It is violence that evokes large surges of support and sympathy, and remains one of the few things that government officials and the public seem to ever agree on. Throughout history, common enemies have allied the most unlikely pairs, so it makes sense that something of, for the most part, universal disgust to have the power to bring people together.
Notice how I said “for the most part,” though?
From a business/marketing prospective, violence is a brilliant marketing technique. A campaign focused on the plight of victims and the state of mind of instigators would obviously draw in large numbers of viewers, and would be a call to action in and of itself. People listen when tragedy strikes. The norm of their everyday lives is abruptly interrupted, and the story is too significant and awful to ignore. This shouldn’t be the case, but coincidentally it is and as a result, humanity has created a pretty notable celebrity.
Violence has become the biggest, and most famous advocate for peace, and we are its greatest supporters.
I think we need a better campaign for peace, one that doesn’t entail casualties or blood. An advocate that encourages broadcasts of change and potential, not devastation and never ending debate. The possibilities that would arise if people were motivated before an act of violence, and not after. The ultimate possibility would be peace, and if peace was the end result driving the force of change, then peace would also become its own advocate. Imagine that.
I know how hard it can be to remember the bigger picture, I forget all the time, but if we were to try and remember that we are not working to end violence but to establish peace, then maybe we would stop emphasizing peace only after tragic events and start working towards it all the time.
