On Sunday night Ed and I were watching some documentary on Adolf Hitler, which essentially are all the same because they are born from the need to figure out what the hell happened. How can a single soul be responsible for all those deaths, leading people not only to be slaughtered but also to become the butchers. All being led like sheep to literal death or the death of a soul not strong enough to overcome the powerful siren call of a hateful demagogue. Saying so much of what people wanted to hear that they forgot he was also a dangerous agitator. This day, in 1944, forever marks the downfall of Hitler's Germany and along with it, the broken seal of his powerful spell on the people in that country. When we, or our fellow allies, look back on World War II it is with pride that we were on the right side. We all helped to destroy on of the worlds greatest evils, but at a cost. We waited, and waited, and waited. We watched, we turned children away seeking safety in our country, we turned away refuges trying to escape the unearned wrath of a crazy megalomaniac hell bent on their destruction. We tucked back into our turtle shell of safety and prosperity when Europe, China, and most of SE Asia were being torn to pieces. We. Waited. And. Waited. Until we were angry enough to say enough is enough. When the destruction and coldblooded killings of our citizens finally and literally hit home. So on this day, the anniversary day of one of the most important battles my nation has ever fought in and won, I am imploring everyone around the world to wait no more.
Today my heart is breaking for the 120+ people, mostly children being slaughtered by Taliban gunmen at a school in Peshawar province in Pakistan. Children in a school. Yesterday Australia experienced its own horror as two citizens, a 38yr old mother of three and a 34 year old young man, lost their lives in a stand off with gunman. Both described as hero's by other hostages, both paid the price of moral uprightness in this world. On one hand you have innocent children, on the other adults with everything to lose, giving it all up to help another. When real life parallels our fantasy, Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Lord of the Rings, where innocents and the morally strong are violently offed, there is something wrong and we cannot afford to wait anymore.
Sometimes I am completely and utterly overwhelmed by the evil people that inhabit this world with us. Those are two examples in two days, not counting our recent events in Pennsylvania, or ISIS's latest murder or slaughter. It keeps happening. And here we are waiting, waiting for this shit to get real. I hate to say it, but, it is real. Everyday scores of people all over the world leave their homes seeking out, what they misguidedly feel is a just fight. Falling pray to the siren calls of the likes of ISIS, the Taliban or Al Qaeda who are unfortunately filling the void of a society set on waking early, trudging to work most of the day, and coming home to eat dinner and for what? The promise of a better life, looking to a bright future. We are constantly waiting. Waiting for things to get better. Waiting for things to get worse. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Ironically, what we fail to realize, what our governments fail to realize, what governments all over the world fail to realize, is that the waiting means nothing when we forget to take care of the present.
I will never understand the inaction of man. The inaction of diplomats around the world and the people at will. What are our limits and when will we finally say enough is enough? How many more children have to die in this world, alone and terrified before it finally hits a point where we no longer can come home from work at night, sit down in front of our TV's, eat dinner and forget about everything that happened that day? When will we be angry enough to end this evil? To finally make a plan, to say something that gives people hope. To help everyone realize that they are not alone in their fight against the evil that we know today. Even if we can't make it to save the innocent that they are not dying in vain, that we know what happens and that we will remember. That someday we will not longer be able to wait. We condemn with weak voices and condone with inaction.
To preserve peace, it has to be the actual goal. That has to be what we are fighting for in the present, whether in our own lives, in our communities or in our wide and tumultuous world. A peaceful future is a better future, a peaceful future is a prosperous future. When will we learn it is not the other way around? Prosperity over peace will always be an algorithm for inaction. Innocents are dying all over the world and at home, I guess in some respects it has always been this way. But, I like to think that sometime, in the near future, enlightenment and mindfulness will win out. We will again form meaningful alliances to end the nightmare we are calling our lives here on earth and really work for peace. Stand together in the name of peace with strong voices, for there are no cultural misunderstanding when it comes to slaughtering innocents. This is my real holiday wish.
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