“May peace be upon you”.
It is a simple enough greeting, effectively sending our best wishes to the person in front of us. It works both as an introductory salutation and a farewell. It is simple. It is respectful. It suits both formal and casual occasions. It brings forth positivity with which to start a constructive line of discourse, and it brings a productive discussion to an end with a message of hope.
How the whole world could do with some peace and hope at this moment in time.
Every single day there seems to be conflict everywhere in the world, in one form or another, and the daily cost is extremely high. Innocent civilians, too many children amongst them, lose their lives as belligerent politicians engage in armed conflict. Social media users, too many children amongst them, lose their minds and souls as belligerent politicians engage in so-called “culture wars” and other forms of ideological conflict. Consumers everywhere, too many struggling families amongst them, literally pay the price of continuously rising costs of living as belligerent politicians engage in economic warfare. Whether these take the form of restrictions on global trade of electronic components, restrictions on export of food items or outright bans on imports of specific products; these are all forms of diplomacy by hostile means, intended to promote ideology and self-interest above all else.
I will not pretend to be the arbiter of current geopolitical issues, but I would like to make one point clear: War in all its forms is bad and brings absolutely no benefit, except to the warmongers and their favourite suppliers. Our fellow human beings who support those warmongers purely on the basis of ideology are in fact being exploited, fed with self-interested political narratives and treated with special care. Much like how livestock are always well-fed and cared for in the period of time leading up to their slaughter.
Humanity is about to cause its own downfall by persisting with the most negative human traits: avarice, envy, vanity and wrath. That desire to always want more, to want what others have (taking what does not belong to us if need be), to be described in superlatives and respond with ire when we do not get what we want. We even seek out reasons to form cliques and exclusive collectives, content to exist in an echo chamber free from the perceived burdens of understanding and collaboration.
Succumbing to our most negative instincts is what will kill us all in the end. As dramatic as that statement sounds, I think it’s a fair assessment. Just look around you the next time you venture outdoors. Observe the behaviour of the human beings around you. Pay particular attention to your own behaviours as you go about your day. The fact that we take so many things for granted, and I admit my own guilt in this, has brought us to a point where the world is now at an inflection point with extreme weather events driven by climate change induced through human activities, diminishing water as well as other natural resources and constant conflict of every kind. We need to somehow cease our destructive ways and evolve the way we think about the world, its resources and our fellow human beings with whom we share this planet.
Is this too big an ask? I refuse to believe so.
This is why I am embarking on a project via this website, its associated social media accounts and other forms of digital presence to bring a message of positive transformation and rejuvenation for the benefit of all Humankind. I will not judge anyone, whether alive or deceased, I only seek ways to collaborate with my fellow human beings so that we can find good solutions and advocate better policies to those who are mandated with administering them. I truly believe that together we can make Tomorrow better than Yesterday: to build a better world that supports sustainable economic growth, social mobility and universal equality.
May peace be upon everyone.