The Missing Peace

"We can bomb the world into pieces,

but we can't bomb it into peace."

– Michael Franti & Spearhead

History has undeniably proven out Michael Franti’s terse, lyrical dissection of the world dilemma regarding the use of force. In a rock/classic, soul/hip-hop oration, Franti tells us that revenge by any other name is still revenge, and that elusive peace cannot occupy the same energetic space with war.

“Power to the peaceful … love to the peaceful,” he vocalizes, acknowledging that the power for peace rests with people living peacefully, and that achieving peace through militarism is not possible. So while the wages of war are still a price of survival in today’s world, it is clear that war ultimately is destabilizing.

Military power used other than in self-defense against planned or active attack or subversion is antithetical to the promotion of peace through self-determination. Some form of order may be achieved, but beneath its surface will lie a festering rebellion and wounds not easily forgiven or forgotten.

— Carl