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2006-08-08

Going against the grain: World peace?

If you frequent flickr, then you may have noticed many people changing their icons over to a black ribbon. This ribbon is meant to symbolize peace in the world, and it is a reaction to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

I hate fighting and I hate conflict. I think war is ugly and unfortunate, and I wish there was no war. I can't imagine a world without war, mainly because I know war is caused by some very fundamental human desires. A community desire for control over it's own space, for example.

Here's where I go against the grain. This black-ribbon icon is beyond silly, in fact, it is damaging to the goal of world peace. Changing user icons is doing nothing to gain peace, it is just taking part in a tribal identification ritual. At any given time, there is military conflict in the world, and often we don't hear about it until everything is over, if ever. This campaign of black ribbons seems to make the statement that things are worse now than they usually are. The last time I checked, there was still a war in Iraq, and a war in Afghanistan, and our own government is taking part in both of them.

While I think the black-ribbon icon is silly, I do wish there was something real I could do. If anyone has some ideas for how to truly help world peace, I'm interested to hear them.

3 Comments:

Blogger Rachael said...

Excellent blog entry, sir.

Peace for the world begins with peace within oneself, and then ripples outward.

2:33 p.m.  
Blogger jjlook said...

dude, I am totally with you in your sentiments...I think the black ribbon thing also suffers from one of the most common sins lately--it's vague.
I mean, who isn't for peace? Many people here who support either side in the conflict probably describe themselves as being pro-peace.
We need specific actions to make change happen.

3:10 p.m.  
Blogger Mandy said...

Well said.

It seems to me that complacency is one of the most protected commodities in North American culture, and token gestures like this are a way of preserving it.

5:01 p.m.  

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