Serenity Quest

I’m a rather inquisitive individual and one issue that particularly intrigues me is “war”. Why do go to war? Why do we kill each other? I am not naïve and know that war is sometimes inevitable to protect ourselves from those seeking our demise but some of the “reasons” we often give for going to war seem petty, egotistical and egocentric.

Maybe we weren’t meant to be some many on our dear planet? Is overpopulation the reason we are chomping at each other? Is it human nature like Darwin said, “In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment”? Where do we draw the line?

Sure we should help each other out but at what point does helping others harm us? Take Africa for example. For many years now, Western countries have felt guilty for the damage it did to Africa and its people. Should we continue to assist them? My belief as the expression goes “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”. Educating ourselves is the only means to combat poverty, disease, corrupt governments and so on.

Violence is more and more prevalent amongst children. Is this phenomenon due to the harsh realty of life, children growing up too fast? The multi-media – TV, movies, games – are they the cause of a numb generation of individualists?

Some are convinced that men are more belligerent than women; can we say for a fact that this is so? History tells us otherwise. We shall see now that women are much more present in society and even in power.

So many questions left unanswered. As long as I ask “why?”, I know I am alive and well!

Can you tell me: Why?