Globalisation of our tribal species, is that the issue?
Evolved biological mechanisms for war and calamity reside in our brain tissue.
Neurons firing pop pop that’s that M16,
Ingroup and out group structures guiding our thoughts and perceptions of who’s on our team
Unaware of these cognitive biases
Unconscious wars can wage within
That make us mistrust, mistreat, and misjudge other people rather than treat them as our kin.
Is war inevitable and peacefulness unattainable?
Are we cursed to walk this earth with guns and bombs until we are no longer able?
The idea of world peace appeals to me, but doubt grows in my mind,
as ideologies of universals seem to waste our precious time.
Is world peace just another Western ideal that we push onto others with no regard?
To justify injustices, to play the game with all the cards.
We are different in cultural norms and values, this I know to be true
Although we are different we share the earth, and these skies of blue.
If we want a peaceful world then we have to look inside
ourselves and find the peace within
To better improve our lives
If there was more inner peace then the world might look different
Bring us together closer and warmer, rather than cold and distant.
I draw courage from Tūmatauenga to go to war with my own thoughts and beliefs, and to challenge what I and others hold as truth.