War and Peace: A Bomb and Poverty

According to Swiss Scholar Jean Jacques Babel, in the past 5,500 years our planet has had only 292 years of peace. Of the nearly 15,000 wars known to history more than half were fought in Europe. The wars cost the world 3 million deaths in the 17th Century, 5 million in the 18th century, 6 million in the 19th century, and 10 million in the First World War and 55 million in the Second World War.

The two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945, caused unprecedented destruction and death. On day one alone 78,150 people in Hiroshima and 23,753 people in Nagasaki were killed. By the end of December 1945, 1,40,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 people in Nagasaki perished.

The trend is alarming. Are we becoming more civilized or less? We continue to kill and destroy, whether by justifying war or pushing others to desperation. We have more nuclear arsenal today to destroy many Hiroshima. The powerful won’t relinquish and yet they do not want others to have the same. It is because the powerful pretends to be cool headed not to use it.

How many millions will have to die if we have the 3rd World War and how many have already died since World war II? Do we care to stop the smoldering fire in the Middle east? The word "peace" is abused by many in making hollow speeches. Worldwide hunger and poverty promote violence and war. Yet funding for military defense and poverty is at a ratio of approximately 9:1.