The irony of peace.

A British Centurian tank with poppies adorning its main gun barrel.

I think it can be said that humans crave peace.  When there is peace people thrive.  Although there will always be the challenges which life throws our way, we have a chance to take care of the things that really matter when we live in peace.  People can also focus on self-improvement and prosperity.  These help build strong individuals, families, communities, economies, and countries.  Take peace away and this all crumbles. 

The funny thing about wanting peace though is that people have to agree to it.  This is essentially the heart of the problem.  For peace to exist there has to be order; order requires rules and someone to enforce them.  We all know what happens when order goes out the window.  Riots, looting, carnage, and even the loss of life. 

This is where the irony comes into play.  To facilitate peace tools of compliance must be utilized when needed.  It starts small, with parents guiding the behaviour of their children.  Then community-based management involving things like block watch and citizen's arrest.  The size of the problem requires greater and greater responses until, ultimately, the hounds of war are unleashed. 

I quite like the symbolism behind the poppies on the British tank in the picture I took.  Although a weapon of destruction and death, it can also be thought of as a weapon of peace.  Without force and its appropriate implementation peace is just a pipedream.  The trick, of course, is finding the right balance.  Too much force and you have a totalitarian regime, similar to what we see in North Korea.  Too little force and you get mobs and cartels ruling the roost. 

The unfortunate truth about peace is that it takes force to get it.  Ironic, but true.

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