Luck Public School
Luck, Wisconsin

War and Peace
Teacher: Barbara Petersen
Sally Schauls
Grade 12



     War: blood is shed for oneıs country, lives that are no longer in existence are mourned, peace is not close enough, and reasons are nonexistent in some cases.  Peace:
happiness is not always the case,  lives are not shed for no reason, families are happy knowing all of  its members are not in danger for the sake of oneıs country, countries are not fighting with weapons, but intelligence and wisdom.     

     On September 11th, 2001, terrorists attack America, many lives are taken, many lives are shattered, but all lives in America are changed.  The terrorist attacks on America are causing many problems, wrecking may lives, but bringing everyone together.  

     On September 12th, 2001, Mrs. Justine Toms stated, "This is one of those pivotal moments in history when we CAN change the world for the better as we bring wisdom actively to the for and apply it with diligence and clarity.  Letıs not go to reaction, dishing out what we have received, but act in a new kind of global compassion.  This is the time, we are the people.  Our ancestors and those who lost their lives are rooting for us.  May we be the ones who step off the wheel of the never ending action and reaction."  What Mrs. Toms is saying is that we, being the United States of America, have the power and abilities to change the future.  Instead of starting a war, we can act with intelligence and wisdom.  We are not alone.  We do not have to hurt anyone just because we got hurt.  Justine Toms and her husband, Michael, are the founders of New Dimensions Radio.  Mrs. Toms said the quote above the day after the terrorist attacks on America.  She is the Editor-in-Chief of New Dimensions Annual Journal, Editor­in­Chief of New Dimensions Newsletter, writes books with her husband, teaches at seminars with her husband, and Director Emeritus of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology.  

     I am in agreement with Mrs. Toms.  We do not need to start a war.  We can use our intelligence and wisdom to avoid using violence.  We are the people, and this is the time to start using the wisdom and intelligence gained from the past.  We have the choice to "step off the wheel of the never ending action and reaction."  We are not currently at peace.  We are now in the middle of another world war.  This is a world war against terrorism.  We could have tried to find the culprits peacefully, but instead we are fighting and bombing Afghanistan.  Mrs. Toms could now change her quote to this: "That was one of those pivotal moments in history when we could have changed the world for the better as we could have brought wisdom actively to the for and could have applied it with diligence and clarity.  We could have acted with a new level of global compassion, not going to reaction dishing out what we have received.  It could have been the time and we could have been the people.  Our ancestors and those who have lost their lives were rooting for us.  We could have been the ones who stepped off the wheel of the never ending action and reaction, but we chose the more traveled route of reaction."

     Ben Herbster says, "The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could have become."   This means that everyone has the potential to do something great.  Not all of us use the potential we have, and that is a waste.

     I believe that Ben Herbster is only partially right.  He is right in saying that everyone has potential.  Some people are born with all the advantages.  They have food, clothes, money, shelter, and love while others are born with nothing: hardly any food, no clothes, poor shelter, and no love.  A person can only do so much to use all their potential, and some people are just trapped in a life that they would do anything to get out of.  Wasted potential comes when the person with all the advantages doesnıt use their potential.  Some people are not necessarily born with a chance to use their potential or to do something great.  Ben Herbster could change his quote to say, " The greatest waste in the world is the difference between those who have a chance to do something great and use it and those who donıt even consider the chance."

     Cicero wrote in a letter to Atticus, "I prefer the most unjust peace to the justest war that was ever waged."  Cicero is saying that he prefers peace instead of war.  Even if the peace is unfair and someone is mad, itıs still better than war.  Cicero had many careers in his lifetime.  He was a lawyer and had a very short military experience.  He was clearly not stupid, but what he said was really his opinion, not something he would really have to think about.

     I agree with Cicero.  I donıt like the idea of war.  I donıt like having my country fighting in a war as it is doing right now.  I prefer unjust peace.  The unjust peace doesnıt have to last forever.  The situation can be worked out with time.  I do not believe that war is the answer to all problems between countries.  I would not change his quote because it is still true today.  As long as countries fight and there is war, Ciceroıs opinion will still be true.

     An unknown soul says, "The thing that makes life so cruel is that everyone has such good reasons."  This means that life is cruel sometimes.  People are cruel.  However, everyone has a reason for being cruel, and itıs a reason that gives the person committing the cruel act an excuse.

     I agree with this quote.  Everyone is having good reasons or excuses.  The terrorists attacking America honestly feel that what they are doing is right and is justifiable.  America is now fighting back, and we have good reasons for fighting back.  America is like a parent and the culprit is like a child.  We feel we need to punish the child for how they have misbehaved in our opinion.  

     War: the countries of the world punishing each other with weapons.  Peace: the countries fighting with their intelligence, not weapons.  Is there ever really peace?