Peace Now, or Pieces Later

Obviously, this is not a part of Point Omega, but it belongs with the series as a sort denouement or coda.

If the human race can't come to peace with itself it really will be "pieces later". Actually, more likely to be sooner than later and there won't be all that many left to pick up the pieces. In that sad case we can kiss both Point Omega and our collective kiester good-bye.

"Hail Mary, full of hate..." is a twist on one of the best known Catholic prayers. I shudder whenever I sing those lines.

Peace now, or Pieces Later

I read the papers, I see the news,
so don't you think I know what goes on?

Up in the sky, deep in the ground
we find a place for one more bomb.
Up in the sky, it's so insane
-- one more military plane!

And every time you turn you head,
another human being's dead -- not from old age
or an Act-of-God. But by the hand of his fellow man!

And the question keeps pounding in my brain:
"How much longer must we wait, while others decide our fate?"
And the answer is always the same:
"No, no, know now how we must cry...!"
Peace now, or pieces later.

Little Man, I'm telling you,
you'd better figure it out pretty soon why they bleed you!

Hail-Mary, full of hate,
your sons are soldiers and heads-of-state
They hide behind steel and armor plate.
Cursed is the fruit of your womb!

And the question keeps pounding in my brain:
"How much longer must we wait, while others decide our fate?"
And the answer is always the same:
"No, no, know now how we must cry...!"
Peace now, or pieces later.

The bottom line is this: violence, specifically military violence, must be rejected as a primary means of resolving disputes between national states.

We are involved in a conflict in Iraq. This conflict has cost us the lives of 3000 Americans and our European allies. Terribly, our leaders cannot mention in the same breath that it has also cost the lives of a half million Iraqis -- in fact they have constantly downplayed and outright pooh-poohed what this "liberation" has cost.

As I type these words, a flotilla of warships is nearing the Persian Gulf, a contingent of military hardware with firepower comparable to all the bombs dropped in the last world war.

The greatest threats to world peace are not Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Neither is the USA, for that matter.

The greatest threats to world peace are incompetance, arrogance and avarice, followed by fanaticism and the desire for revenge.