Today, my friend told me when she went to university in China, she had a one month training with a firearm. It has been mandatory for university students ever since the Tiananmen Square Massacre (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989). How crazy is that.
It makes you think about the situations of people in foreign countries. Why would they need training? It's because violence can occur at any moment. Think about what South Koreans must be going through right now. North Korea says, "Oh we aren't testing nukes ANYMORE. And besides we have a RIGHT since we are a sovereign country." There's something obviously wrong with that statement. It's no wonder that the young men in South Korea have mandatory military training for a year or two. I saw a clip of the North Korean military men marching while watching the Chinese news today and it reminded me of the Nazis...just the way they marched with vigor and fervor...it's scary to think this is what they're constantly thinking about. This is what keeps them going. It is not the thought of peace and harmony (or perhaps they think it is because they think of uniting everything under one iron hand).
And think about Iraq, Israel, Palestine, and Africa. Constantly at war. It's extremely sad that they must go through all that but all sides believe they are doing the right thing. They are fighting for their rights or for power. I suppose that is their prerogative but why must so many people be hurt in the process? And this is not a simple hurt. The accepted and acknowledged slaughtering of people... War is a crime against humanity. All of those deceased people....Not just as a tragedy, but I also see it as an enormous waste of potential. How many could have continued to grow up and do something important? How many could have brought peace or invented something? How many could have made many more happy?
We have it soft and comfortable. We don't need military or firearm training. Many of us don't even think of joining the army because we have a cushy life and so many other options. And I think most of the U.S. recruits are mostly joining because of money reasons and no other options. I hear many people in the midwest plains of the U.S. typically go to the army because they don't have many job options besides being a farmer or trucker. Of course, there are those who belong to a line of military men or they just have great pride in our country. They need no monetary reward nor is the army a last resort to them but I digress.
Some people don't bother to think about war. They can't even spare a feeling even though feeling sympathy doesn't cost a person anything. But perhaps they are indifferent because if they did feel something like sympathy, they would take action or take some time out of their day to do something and that would cost something. So why bother? If they don't feel for those innocents, they don't get involved. What a sad notion. It's about our conveniences, our luxuries. But perhaps if we all strived to have world peace. Maybe that would make us even happier, something that goes beyond money and materials.
All I ask for anybody who reads this is to give a moment of thought everyday to those who lost their lives unnecessarily and those innocents who must survive during the hard times. And if you can, do something to help. Protests, donations and charity, awareness, sympathy, time, understanding, or hope for a better world and to pass that hope onto your legacy, your posterity. Because there's something bigger than you and me and our individual perspectives; the whole harmony and peace of humankind and the world is a goal greater than any other.
Of course, saying all of this doesn't make me a saint nor does it make me any better than everyone, far from it. It's just a reminder for me and for those who get caught up in the lives that we live and we forget about the lives of others.
