If we invested in peace the same resources we invest in war, we would save humanity rather than risk nuclear self-destruction. This isn’t utopia, it’s a choice. Investing in peace means investing in our personal growth, because the more we evolve as people, the more naturally we abandon war. Peace is a consequence of self-awareness and awareness of life. The deeper and broader our understanding of the mystery of our existence and world events, the clearer the self-destructive madness of war becomes, and we strive to avoid it. This applies to our personal lives as well as public life. Conflicts are inevitable, but a conscious person does everything to prevent them and manages them intelligently and peacefully. Peace is no utopia; it is chosen, built daily, and is more demanding than war. It requires patience, listening, reasoning, altruism, foresight, and controlling one’s ego. War, on the other hand, is an ego-driven outburst against an enemy seen as the cause of our suffering, an illusion that defeating this enemy will resolve everything. But war doesn’t solve problems; it creates new ones, and it never has true winners. Hatred corrodes those who feel it, and violence eventually backfires on those who commit it. Dialogue is the only way for humans to find solutions, whether between individuals or nations.
Yet humanity cannot win the war against war because its roots lie within us. People first give vital importance to things that don’t deserve it, then cling to them desperately and fight to defend or conquer them. In European history, millions have died defending rulers, flags, borders, and ideologies that today mean nothing. Millions of lives wasted due to the selfish ambitions of the powerful or beliefs peddled as absolute truths, or because of imaginary threats and enemies. Self-destructive madness. There is no justification for wasting our fleeting time on Earth or for killing other human beings. The prophets of antiquity engraved this wisdom in stone, yet for millennia, these teachings have been ignored, as they clash with eternal egotistical delusions.
After centuries of pointless wars, we thought Europe had finally achieved peace. But now politicians are doing everything to drag us into a dangerous escalation, fueled by warmongering media and general indifference. Most people will only open their eyes when their children or grandchildren are called to arms—by then, it will be too late to stop the war machine. At that point, all they can do is pray for their safe return. Because war ultimately means poor souls leaving home to kill other poor souls, often never to return, becoming gravestones no one reads anymore. At least in private wars, those who start them fight. In public wars, rulers decide at gala dinners, while the poor die in the trenches. It has always been this way.
Leaders find excuses—looming threats, principles to defend—stoking fear to make war seem essential, diverting public funds to weapons while watching the battle unfold from comfort, hoping for victory. This is particularly troubling in Europe, which endured two world wars with tens of millions dead and was experiencing its longest period of peace. After centuries of mutual slaughter, we realized unity made us richer and safer. Yet today’s politicians in Brussels seem to have forgotten this, driving us toward escalation. How many understand the historic responsibility of this dangerous backslide? How many are trapped by warmongering conformity or career interests? They risk future generations’ lives and the very project of European unity, which is founded on peace. They fail to see that investing in peace, rather than war, could save humanity from nuclear annihilation. Peace is an increasingly necessary choice. The problem is their lack of awareness. The more we evolve as people and nations, the more we reject the madness of war. We must get back on this path before it’s too late.
