World Peace?

[Xander Harris]

Siren posited this question in another thread... I think it has some discussion value to it, so I've decided to make a thread dedicated to it.

Do you believe the whole world can live at peace? Why or why not?

[Adahn]

[font=Courier New][size=2][color=blue]People go to war when they are unhappy, regardless of the severity of their unhappiness or the cause. So, one must ask if it is possible for everyone to be happy. Humans are covetous in nature, and despite what one may have, we always want more. Even if we all had the same thing in every way, there would still be the possiblity of having your neighbor's things, and once you have that, you can take more, and more, and more.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]I don't think world peace is possible, because human nature does not permit it.[/color][/size][/font]

[Morpheus]

No. There will never be a world without violence. It's simply not human nature. Try as we might, there will always be radicals, always be terrorists, always people that try to conquer the world. This is about as peaceful as the world gets.

Edit: You beat me to it.

[Adahn]

[font=Courier New][size=2][color=blue]I had another thought.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]In order to accomplish world peace, the nature of man must be changed. If this can be accomplished, then world peace is possible. So, the next question in this line of thought is: What can change the nature of man?[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]If world peace were defined as an end to struggles between men, then perhaps uniting against a common enemy that is not man would change the nature of man. Something would have to threaten our survival as a species, because mankind is an entity itself. If you threaten mankind as an entity, it would be possible, for a brief time, for every person to be united against that threat.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][color=#0000ff][/color][/font]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]No. Not in the stereotypical, idealistic way, at least. If people are divided, the various factions will generally be vying for various things- the regions resources, more land for population, destruction of an old enemies resources/population and so on. So, if you want peace, you would require the nonexistence of the tons of nationalist, "WE HAVE SOVEREIGNTY LOL!!!!" countries that exist. Otherwise, nations can always find- no matter how valid or invalid it might seem to us, the common people- a reason to go attack someone with their armies. At least, that is what I believe- and I think I can state that if you look at history, well- there you go.

Ironically it could be achieved in a more tenuous way by some random nation conquering everyone, lol. So, if you want peace- prepare for war.[/color]

[Morpheus]

Aliens! Or all but one group of people could die. Like if there was a horrible virus and only 1 group found the cure and used it on themselves.

[Boba Fett]

[quote name='Adahn][font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]If world peace were defined as an end to struggles between men, then perhaps uniting against a common enemy that is not man would change the nature of man. Something would have to threaten our survival as a species, because mankind is an entity itself. If you threaten mankind as an entity, it would be possible, for a brief time, for every person to be united against that threat.[/color][/size'][/font][/quote]

[color=green]I agree with this statement, and the logic behind it. It's a part of human nature to be aggressive and/or violent. This situation isn?t helped by the fact that there will always be fanatical elements among us that will, for whatever reason, see violence as the only answer to their problems.

Without something to unite people of all ideologies, humanity will fracture along every kind of line imaginable.

1984 is a great book that touches upon this subject, and to some extent it's mantra of "War is Peace" rings true.[/color]

[Zeta]

[QUOTE]So, if you want peace- prepare for war.[/QUOTE]



There is a very similar quote to that in the game Rome: Total War. Can't remember what exactly, but it read along the lines of what you wrote, I will get back with the exact quote once it pops up again.


I agree with Adahn. The only way to get us all united is for something to threaten the existance of humanity. Then we would stop being power hungry. I believe this is explored in a set of Alternate History novels by Harry Turtledove. The books are about an alien race invading during World War II. The Axis powers and Allied powers all band together to stop the aliens. Haven't read them, but they sound good.

[DeathKnight]

[quote name='Zeta']There is a very similar quote to that in the game Rome: Total War. Can't remember what exactly, but it read along the lines of what you wrote, I will get back with the exact quote once it pops up again.[/quote]

[color=crimson]I wouldn't be surprised since I was using the English form of a Latin proverb- Si vis pacem, para bellum.

I haven't had the joy of tromping around Europe in Rome: Total War, but I suspect the original, Latin phrase is what you were referring to.[/color]

[Retribution]

I think that if in the middle of WWII, aliens came to attack humanity, we would be throughly dead. Hilter was a crazy guy, and he would not stop conquering until he had the world, even if he had to kill the allies and the aliens. He was so hell bent on killing Jews, he wouldn't stop. There would just be an extra element of chaos. I think that America would've withdrawn all troops to guard America -- the priority. All other nations would do the same, execpt for maybe Germany. They might take advantage of the situation and attack everyone they could.

In short, Hitler would NEVER put aside his hatred for the jews, and would be so blood thirsty, he would try to exterminate the aliens too. Common logic cannot be applied to Hitler.

I think that if aliens were to attack the world now, in a time of relatively global peace, we would all (for the most part) band together to repel them. The fact of the matter is, we would get soooo destroyed. We don't have the space technology to repel them. And if they came here, that means they have better technology than us by a longshot. So we would be slaughtered like pigs.

And world peace is unattainable, even with the attack of aliens, because then we would still be fighting. And after (if) we repelled them, we would go back to our petty arguments. Even if one race were to exist under a common gov't, the world still wouldn't have peace. Take the Roman Empire. Get too big, and your a goner. Besides, humans naturally have conflict of beliefs/opinion, therefore we would have to alter the human mind/nature (as previously stated), which we aren't going to do to everyone on Earth. Heck, there'd be opposition to that too.

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New]If you've read any of Orson Scott Card's work, this is the kind of thing he likes to look at.

His Earth was able to remain peaceful because of the threat of the Buggers, along with all the world's most brilliant minds being trained in outer space, where they could not hold any kind of political sway.

Once the Bugger threat is removed, however, the world becomes very unstable, and countries form a sort of world-wide Cold War.

The only way to achieve world peace would be to end nationalism and any other fanatic trends one could think of.

But this depends on your view of world peace. There will always be conflict, but mass conflict (i.e. wars) is something on a seperate level.

I believe that alot of the world is pretty much at peace with itself, in the sense that Canada, England, America, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, France, Italy, Greece, China, etc... manage to get along (that is: not bomb the crap out of each other), as a whole.
However, there will always be specific regions who feel the need to create conflict, for whatever reason, or are simply conflict-ridden.

The Global Community is becoming much more emphasized, what with immigration and everything else, so a sizeable chunk of people are willing to set aside differences for the greater good. (Though whether it is all good is debatable, in itself.)[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Kanojo]

Kanojo believes that peace comes from within
If war is inside of man
man will war
If war is inside of man
war is with false image of god and no one else
Only to know a perfect God will change the nature of man
If man sees God how He truly is he will be like Him
If war is inside of man
the only common enemy man has is a god of hell and death
Until this image is removed from inside every man
there will be no peace
No religion can teach what Love is
Ask for love and you shall receive love
God is Love

[DeathBug]

I think world peace will be achieved when the entire worldwide neighborhood is so economically, technologically and socially connected that to start war would be destructive for all parties, for no gain.

[Adahn]

[font=Courier New][color=blue][/color][/font][font=Courier New][size=2][color=blue]Ah, so you think we would have to become more like a single organism? This makes sense. Here's a question.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]Who wins in a fight between your left arm and your right arm?[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]The answer: It doesn't matter, because whoever wins, you lose.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Courier New][size=2][color=#0000ff]This uniting of humanity will not occur naturally, so we have to ask, "What would cause humanity to unite?" It would be easy to find a common enemy and fight it, but would it be possible to unite behind something else? Create something that is a tremendous benefit to all humanity, but is useless if we are not united. Perhaps it's possible to create so great a good that all people will act to protect it.[/color][/size][/font]

[Sara]

[quote name='DeathBug']I think world peace will be achieved when the entire worldwide neighborhood is so economically, technologically and socially connected that to start war would be destructive for all parties, for no gain.[/quote][size=1]That's an interesting point. I'd never thought about that before, really. Where Europe has had many wars over the centuries, today it's generally considered stable. (I guess I'm speaking of Western Europe here.) The EU shares the Euro for currency, for example. England and France aren't exactly going to declare war on each other or anything, heh.

*pauses* I'm not building an arugment, or saying that such a thing is the only reason . Just making an observation. I don't claim to know anything about economics or politics.

they call me mister fahrenheit,
Sara[/size]

[Heaven's Cloud]

[quote name='DeathBug']I think world peace will be achieved when the entire worldwide neighborhood is so economically, technologically and socially connected that to start war would be destructive for all parties, for no gain.[/quote]

[color=indigo]I agree, actually, I think that first world countries are already ebbing towards that point of peace amongst our selves.

However, I think that any peace that man attains would be fleeting. I honestly think that conflict, greed, and, most of all, desire are all too real character traits (don?t get me wrong, they all have beneficial aspects to them) to avoid war for a terribly long time.

Unification to allow for temporary peace could be achieved by any number of ways. I think a huge empire could achieve it for a period of time if it was governed correctly. I also think that a horrible war that devastates society may be able to influence peace. Perhaps and alien invasion would also stave off any internal wars and promote peace throughout humanity.

I still think that all of those scenarios would last temporarily. The only permanent solution I could imagine is the emergence of a deity of immense power. If there was an un-doubtable God then I think humanity may be able to live at peace with each other?although I am sure someone would try and attack the deity. [/color]

[Guest Garelock]

It pains me to have to say this but world peace is impossible. As many have said before, it's only human nature to go to war. To be honest, humans are nothing more than animals when you compare behavior patterns. Animals kill one another, so do humans, animals brutalize one another, so do humans, animals kill their own family members, so do humans. World peace is a joke as far as I'm concerned.

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]Hm. I might be mistaken, but alot of you seem to be following a path of "violence is human nature, so warfare- an expanded type of violence- is probably human nature too". Violence is uncontrolled and chaotic. Warfare is taking that and controlling it, directing it where to go. So, technically, it could be said that warfare is a transcended act, one above that "human nature". Warfare has even been described as an art- one of the finer ones.

Of course, I might have misread some of these posts. I, personally, tend to lean towards an empire taking over the Earth- or, some sort of common enemy [re?]appearing. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Then, the empire will turn corrupt and a group of six teenagers will have to...[/color]