“There is nothing easier than lopping off heads and nothing harder than developing ideas.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky
“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of their way and let them have it.”
“Wars are seldom caused by spontaneous hatreds between people, for peoples in general are too ignorant of one another to have grievances and too indifferent to what goes on beyond their borders to plan conquests. They must be urged to the slaughter by politicians who know how to alarm them.” Henry Mencken
“There is no such thing as a good war and there is no such thing as a bad peace.” Benjamin Franklin
“Short-circuiting the long-established principles of patient negotiation leads to war, not peace.” Jimmy Carter
I miss the good old days — when things weren’t as complicated as they are now. It seemed rather peaceful then (or so I thought). Fact is, the world in general has not been truly peaceful at any time. Wars are as constant as change. And this world has seen one too many wars. There will always be small wars fought in certain parts of the world for all sorts of reason. I think humankind has a penchant for wars — probably part of what makes us human — to be hostile at times when certain boundaries are crossed.
We’ve even had our share of conflicts to deal with. It only seemed peaceful then because I was younger, and consequently didn’t realize that we were at war or that the dictator President Marcos has caused many Filipinos to die fighting for what they believe in or in their attempt for the preservation of their basic human rights.
What does it take to achieve peace, the long-term if not the “forever” kind? You know what I think? I think all it takes for real, long-lasting peace to prevail is for people in power to genuinely “commit” themselves to its fulfillment — to its realization. Militarization, political solutions and what-have-you’s, there is a solution out there. And it’s not the solution that’s absent rather the “resolve” to do what it takes to get the peace process going. It’s not so much a question of mechanism rather a question of the kind of people behind it.
I want peace. Mindanaoans want peace. Visayans want peace. Tagalogs want peace. Lumads want peace.
And I have not known anyone who wants otherwise. It is a basic instinct of human beings to want harmony. So why can’t we have peace? Because just as we generally want harmony, we are also inclined to protect ourselves and our interests — survival instinct that almost always go overboard. And this is where the conflict starts. So unless we rise above our “survival instincts”, peace will always be elusive.
Peace is not free. It has a price. And there is no chance in hell we will get it if no one is willing to pay.
RJMarmol.com - Since 2008. 
Let me know what you think… :)