“If Everyone Were Like You,
There’d Finally Be Peace.”

By Dave Markowitz

In Woody Allen’s movie, Love and Death, where the filmmaker plays an unwilling participant in Russia’s army against the French, the Russian general says to the troops, “Next week, we leave for the front. If we kill more Frenchmen, we win. If they kill more Russians, they win.”

Woody’s character, responds with “What do we win?”

The general replies, “What do we win, private? Imagine your loved ones conquered by Napoleon and forced to live under French rule. Do you want them to eat that rich food and those heavy sauces? Do you want them to have soufflé every meal and croissant?”

While the text is obviously facetious, the point I think he’s making is that no one wins in war. And yet it’s been with us throughout history. More people were killed in the name of war in the 20th century than all of recorded time combined. No one likes it, or do they?

George Bush declared a War of Terror (Oh, sorry, I meant War on Terror; thank you, Sacha Baron Cohen). Ronald Reagan declared a War on Drugs (see Iran-Contra) that’s still being lost today, and there’s conflict in Sudan, the Middle East, and many other places. President Obama, while you may not agree with ALL of his decisions, has maintained integrity and has done exactly what he promised on the campaign trail two years ago: he sent more troops to Afghanistan. So what’s behind these decisions?

For one, war is good business. I know it’s crazy to say it, but it’s true. Much of the American economy is based on defense and military. If there were no war, unemployment would go up, the economy would shrink, and more people would feel forced to take more drastic measures to survive, which is good for the prison owners. If more people are miserable, alcohol consumption would go up, which is good for the bar owners and alcohol producers and sellers. So by the economics of it, there will always be a conflict somewhere. And for every conflict, there are some that profit.

And that’s where the problem lies. If one person, corporation or country profits from people’s misery, someone is there to take advantage of it.

I’m not condoning war; I’m sharing a perspective on it. I’ve heard some say that 2012 will usher in 1,000 years of peace. My friends, when was the last time there was even one year of peace? On the evolutionary football field, I’m “hearing” from Source we’re on our own 10-yard line, with 90 more to go. Can that get done in the next 13 months? 13 years? How about 13 decades? It will never happen until we realize that we are all affected by everything that happens everywhere. And by “we” I mean everyone.

Until we learn to share the earth’s resources and accept each other’s viewpoints unconditionally, there will be an incentive to profit and someone to blame, and those ego-driven incentives are powerful and all-consuming. Such a perspective invites people to see others as the enemy. It allows and actually invites blame, and no one wins the blame game. As long as the focus is always on the “other,” there will always be strife.

This is the age of personal responsibility. We must begin to see how even our inactions condone brutality. John Lennon said, “If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.” But as Ghandi would posit, we need to be peaceful to demand peace. And again, it starts with us.

In every conflict we can choose, and in every potential conflict we can choose.

Years back, just after 9/11, a Muslim cab driver in NYC asked me what religion I was. I answered, “love.” This answer was inconceivable to him. “You must be a Jew, Catholic, Christian--which is it?!”

I replied, “Well, I’ve studied all the world’s religions, and the most common element, and the one that makes the most sense as a guideline to operate by, is love. Which includes unconditional acceptance of all others’ viewpoints.”

As he got a bit heated I stayed fully present. I later asked him why Muslims and Hindus don’t get along. He said, “Well for one, they worship cows; we eat them.” Staying present, inquisitive and open hearted, I posited, “So you’d like to be accepted for your differing views by them? Is that what you’re saying?”

He replied, “Yes, of course.”

“Do you think they do also?”

“Huh, what do you mean?” he asked.

I said, “Do you think Hindus would also only like to be accepted in their views?”
 
“Yes, I imagine that would be so.”

I then asked, “So what would happen if they accepted you and you accepted them? Unconditionally. Do you think you could get along and the fighting could stop?”

He thought for a few moments.

Silence followed more silence.

As I exited the cab he said, “You know, if everyone were like you, there’d finally be peace.”

No one wins in war.

We all win in peace.

Dave Markowitz is a Medical Intuitive, Author/Humorist, and channel of Source energy and information. Order his groundbreaking book, Healing with Source: A Spiritual Guide to Mind-Body Medicine at www.DaveMarkowitz.com