So it seems we are stuck
permenantly in the prisoner's dilemma
From a logic based on self-preservation
we continue to build walls to defend ourselves
a fortress of skepticism
a moat of aggression
silos packed full of gunpowder
a-bombs, superbacteria, chemicals
whatever
whatever it takes to ensure our own survival
But what we seem to have forgotten
are the faces behind the barrier
that the pay-off for our own security
is not simply the security of another
or the life of another
but humanity itself
that our very meaning of existence
degrades with each missile we launch
for we do not live for the sole purpose of living
Peace is fragile
it only takes one rotten one to ruin a whole basket
some say it's not in our nature
that peace never existed in history
but we have invented and evolved
since before the first record of history
and as an innovative kind
I don't see why we can't invent peace
We've been playing this game
for decades and centuries
and we never seem to get tired of the same ending
always trading freedom for the illusion of safety
then wonder what went wrong when
it happens all over again
and we always blame others
for being aggressive
for producing arms
when collectively we spend a trillion dollars
every year on war
and the anticipation of one
What puzzles me is the hypocrisy
of pointing a gun at someone
and demanding that he drops his
for a better world
spitting words of empty promises
hollow reassurance
and the irony of how desperate measures
to restrict and control
affects everyone but the gun-bearers
And so in the new century
we trade in demands for peace
for the supposed declaration of freedom
the optimism for making history
for the old lazy habit of repeating history
we'd be measuring the price
we put on human lives
on human dignity
on friendship, comradeship
in goldbars and missiles
in the names of God and Allah
But we will wait.