WORLD PEACE

World peace is not only possible but inevitable. It is the next stage in the evolution of this planet. In the words of one great thinker, it's the planetisation of mankind.

Whether peace is to be reached only after unimaginable horrors precipitated by humanity's stubborn clinging to old patterns of behaviour, or is to be embraced now by an act of consultative will, is the choice before all who inhabit the earth.

At this critical juncture when the intractable problems confronting nations have been fused into one common concern for the whole world, failure to stem the tide of conflict and disorder would be considered terribly irresponsible.

Among the favourable signs are the steadily growing strength of the steps towards world order taken initially near the beginning of this century in the creation of the League of Nations, succeeded by the more broadly based United Nations Organization; the achievement since the Second World War of independence by the majority of all the nations on earth, indicating the completion of the process of nation building, and the involvement of these fledgling nations with older ones in matters of mutual concern; the consequent vast increase in co-operation among hitherto isolated and antagonistic peoples and groups in international undertakings in the scientific, educational, legal, economic and cultural fields; the rise in recent decades of an unprecedented number of international humanitarian organizations; the spread of women's and youth movements calling for an end to war; and the spontaneous spawning of widening networks of ordinary people seeking understanding through personal communication.

In a world fraught with war, starvation and malice, it's nice to know that some things never change. People have been attacking, starving and hating each other since time began. And before that, dinosaurs weren't known for their ability to get along peacefully.

This is getting too seriously boring.

Therefore here are some suggestions about how World Peace can be achieved by the end of the year.
- Antartica is the only continent untouched by war. The rest of the world should follow its example and become a frozen wasteland.
- The Northern Ireland conflict is based largely on religious differences between Protestants and Catholics. The solution is clear: prove that God doesn't exist, and the two sides will have nothing to disagree about.
- The War on Terror can be over by Christmas. George W Bush just needs to declare victory, and it's over. It worked in Iraq, so why not everywhere else? Of course, the fighting and killing will continue, but we can just re-define "terrorism" as "hyper-violent negotiation".
- All wars about ownership of land could be ended if only people learned how to breathe under water and live at the bottom of the ocean.
- No pangolin has ever become an evil dictator. This may be an important point for people to remember when next casting their vote.
- Many conflicts continue for years and years because negotiators have fixed positions, and aren't prepared to be flexible. Wars would end if each country sent in their gymnastics teams to solve disputes.
- Some of the most vicious disputes in the world are between neighbours arguing about over-hanging trees. A simple solution would be to refer all these disputes to an international body such as the UN Security Council, to vote on which neighbour is right, and then to send in a Peace Keeping Force to chip down the tree and live in each of the neighbours houses for 25 years to ensure hostilities no longer arise.
- The UN Security Council should be replaced by the Justice League. A team of superheroes will act quickly, decisively and effectively. So long as Batman doesn't get to lead the team.
- It's hard for soldiers to kill each other when they're only armed with pillows. All other forms of weapon should be destroyed.

Lily, you wanted me to write about world peace, so, there you go.

(can only be) JEKYLL