Have We Truly Evolved As a Human Race?
The world is watching a war happening.
Our world has been relatively peaceful with each other after World War II, at least with the developed countries. Of course, there are still wars going on in other parts of the world like the Middle-East and Africa. There are social wars happening in the United States. But we haven’t seen an invasion since WWII.
Today, many of us are keeping a close watch on the current Ukraine-Russia war happening. Our eyes are constantly glued to different-sized screens. Our thumbs are scrolling continuously at live updates on the BBC and CNN apps. We’re watching intently and with great suspense to see what would happen next. To see how long this war is going to last. To see how this war would have repercussions on the rest of the world.
Countless people do not support the war, including the Russian people. Some jump on this opportunity to trash other people, like the political battle between the right and left in America. As much as many people disapprove of this war, there is also a growing number that does.
And it’s frightening.
There’s never a good reason to start a war.
I can never understand the concept of war no matter how many reasons there are for it. It’s different if you’re defending yourself from an attack. That’s what it means to “fight for your country”. It’s to defend their home from besieging enemies. You can’t “fight for your country” when you’re the one starting the war. Simply because there was no fight to begin with.
There’s never a good reason to start a war. Be it in the name of territory, religion, resources, race, you name it. At the end of the day, wars are started for a very simple reason. A simple but fatal one.
One person’s ego.
Their egos build a belief system and it spreads to its people, like oxygen in our blood flowing in a vein to the rest of the body. At the end of the day, it’s power they all want. Territory, religion, resources and more all equates to accumulating power. Yet, are these unachievable without war?
What happened to diplomacy? Isn’t that what we all signed for at the end of the second world war? We were supposed to be more ‘civilized’. We were supposed to have evolved. Be better than animals. Or simply be better than our ancestors. When one person holds on to a past belief and refuses to progress, it can drive them to do unthinkable things. And when you give one person that much power, all hell will break loose. As I type, it’s already happening in real time.
We consider ourselves to be the most superior in the animal kingdom. It’s our intelligence that separates us from the beasts. Seeing wars still happening in some parts of our world, I question if we are indeed more superior. Perhaps we like to think we are to soothe our fragile egos. I think animals behave better than we do sometimes.
War is selfish. Half the time, are the soldiers even aware of what they’re fighting for? Who they are fighting for? Sometimes, I wonder if the Russian soldiers even wanted to be part of this war. Did they have a choice in this matter? Or was that choice taken away when they joined the military? Are their mental health suffering because their moral values have been compromised for the ambitions of one man?
War is never for the country even if propaganda constantly bombards you with news of patriotism and national pride. A nation is made of its people. And it’s the civilians and soldiers that are dying. They’re the collateral damage for the pursuit of one man’s ambition. Not the culprit who started it all. They’re usually sitting comfortably on their high horse in their palace by themselves, armed with steel defense, watching the destruction happen, being on camera selling lies, and playing chess. The people? Their pawns. Their nutrients for their ego. Their numbers to support their self-centered cause.
Is war part of human nature? Can we have a world completely without wars?
Call me an idealist, but I truly believe it’s possible. There’s a reason why the first two world wars were taught in our history books so that history doesn’t repeat itself.
When we lay our pride down and talk to each other amicably without being violent, when we listen to each other and find ways to compromise, when we stop forcing our beliefs on others, we can live in a world without wars. The only reason it’s not possible it’s not because it’s human nature but our reluctance in putting our ego down. It’s human nature to have egos and pride. They keep us safe. But if we’ve truly evolved and are superior, we would be able to keep it in check and use it to our advantage for morally right reasons.
If we’ve truly evolved as a human race, we would be able to transcend our pride and thirst for power. We’ll be able to see that we are of one race first before all the differences we have between us. We would be able to rationalize and talk our pride down. We would be able to see that being united is what makes us stronger as a race.
Despite the ongoing war, it warms my heart to see the people of Ukraine fighting against the military in their own small-but-mighty ways, the people of Russia protesting against this war, and neighboring countries opening up to receive refugees (of course, the latter opens up another issue but I’ll get to that in another article.) While war is ugly, this war has also revealed the humanity we’re all capable of having; how we could all band together and help the Ukrainians in our own means.
Never in my lifetime would I thought I would be a witness to an ignited war. Not in this day and age. Not with human evolution. Not with modern technology and teachings. I sigh with huge disappointment and frustration with our society. At the same time, my hope in humanity is fueled by empathetic and courageous people fighting for Ukraine in their own ways.
My heart goes out to all people of Ukraine, regardless of race, as well as the Russians who are against this war. I may not be able to fight alongside you but I’ll find other ways to stand with you.
I hope this war will end soon.
Most of us do.
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