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" data-orig-size="1880,1249" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" data-image-title="black smoke coming from fire" class="attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image" data-orig-file="https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg" data-image-description="" height="478" width="720" data-medium-file="https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=300" data-permalink="https://sabariganesh.com/2022/04/18/is-there-any-solution-for-war/pexels-photo-417070/" alt="" srcset="https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=720 720w, https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=1440 1440w, https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=150 150w, https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=300 300w, https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=768 768w, https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=1024 1024w" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-large-file="https://sabariganeshb.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/pexels-photo-417070.jpeg?w=720" />War has never left humankind, even though we search every avenue to avoid it. There was never a year in recent history where at least one country in the world was in peace without any war. There has been blood and deaths in different parts of the world every year in the name of freedom, religion and democracy.
The theory of evolution signifies the survival of the fittest, and that holds true for us.
What makes humans the master of all the species on this planet? No other species has transformed the way they live than humans did. Our transformation from meat hunters to money hunters is very interesting, and humans of modern civilization have transformed faster than before. Among this evolution and transformation, violence holds a prominent attribute in shaping the course.
Morality and ethics were less regarded in the evolution of human civilizations. It has been always a matter of how to survive. The ultimate aim of all the modern thoughts in today’s democratic societies is to survive morally and sustainably. But these thoughts were never useful, and we failed miserably to put them into practice while choosing between life or death during perilous times.
One man’s struggle for freedom is felt as a threat to another’s survival. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia is the best recent example. The struggle will go on in one way or the other like the Kashmir struggle between India and Pakistan. There are a few sections of people who benefit from the wars, and a few more who learn lessons from these conflicts. History has many lessons for us. Despite these lessons, there were monumental failures from us in hypothesizing and chalking out plans to avoid war. The very institutions like UNO, NATO and other powerful blocs that mushroomed after the world wars to avoid any further war, are in part responsible for the current wars. (More on this later)
What is the point of going to war? If one thinks that he needs power, the other thinks he needs freedom. If one thinks he needs money to become rich, the other struggles violently for basic needs. If being powerful and rich is what makes us happy, and being free with making basic needs met is what keeps us happy, then happiness needs a true definition without any relative misunderstandings. Philosophically, happiness is defined in different ways. But this quote describes the happiness and man’s struggle to get it in a subtle manner in the current context.
According to Buddhism, the root of suffering is neither the feeling of pain nor of sadness nor even of meaninglessness. Rather, the real root of suffering is this never-ending and pointless pursuit of ephemeral feelings, which causes us to be in a constant state of tension, restlessness and dissatisfaction. People are liberated from suffering not when they experience this or that fleeting pleasure, but rather when they understand the impermanent nature of all their feelings and stop craving them.
Yuval Noah Harari in Sapiens
War never makes people happy, but it makes them miserable. We lose loved ones, opportunities to have a better life are snatched away from us, and ultimately the life itself will be taken away most brutally.
What drove humans to become the most powerful on this earth? They never went with the natural flow of life. They resisted the brutality of nature. From the invention of fire and the wheel to the latest biotechnological advancements, their resistance to the natural way of life has made them what they are today. They needed security against the threat nature posed to them, and so they started finding solutions. The tools and thoughts they invented in this process led to taking the path of war, and there seems to be no alternate solution. Is there any ?
