we all want peace, we talk about peace, we discuss about so many things and yet we are divided.

at the end of the day we go to bed thinking as long as I, we have food and water on the table we should be happy. what about the rest? we are all fighters i know at least that much we have a conscience, we know what’s right and wrong and yet we see distruction and poverty. it’s been like this for years for so many of us and I think it’s sad.

a change? yes it is a individual choice but then again we go back in time and wonder when it was worse, yesterday? we don’t know what the future holds for us and yet we are here. i have so many questions in my mind, often times i feel small, i know I’m small and it’s ok and yet I wonder, learn and I breathe for peace.

Hi lu... It would be wonderful if we lived in a World of peace. I don't believe everyone wants it, which is why there's so much destruction and hate as well as love and peace.

Eliminating the guns, so we live in a World without them, isn't going to solve the quest for peace or the problems with obtaining peace. Those who wish to hurt others will just find another means to do so.

The question I reflect on is "What kind of world would we live in if there wasn't hate and destruction?" I believe the answer would be a peaceful one.

Some claim there has to be a yin and a yang, in order to find balance. I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't mind witnessing what the world would be like if there was only love and peace.

Thanks lu, a very thought provoking subject.

That’s deep....! Thank you for posting this, Lu!

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace”! I think Jimi Hendrix said that!

I pray for peace and love to be rampant in the world someday....soon!

The question I reflect on is "What kind of world would we live in if there wasn't hate and destruction?" I believe the answer would be a peaceful one.

Some claim there has to be a yin and a yang, in order to find balance. I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't mind witnessing what the world would be like if there was only love and peace.

Me too. Thank you.

I'm divided on this question. I see guns as a tool to survive, not sure if that was it's original intention was as it was developed so long ago by the Chinese as a weapon to kill, from what I've studied. However, killing, according to the Bible, happened by using a rock. It would seem all beasts upon this world are here to either survive or die, or self destruction. The beasts are going to find one way or another to kill. It's the nature of the beast.

I pray for peace and love to be rampant in the world someday....soon!



I too pray and hope for a better world. Thank you.

My inner peace came when I figured out that I only need to fit into my immediate world.
My gun stays locked and put away now. Thinking about selling it. I don't really use it, not even just going shooting.

I spent a lot of my life trying to keep up with current events. I followed the NEWS avidly. It was really wearing on me. I thought it was my responsibility as a member of society to keep up with it all. The overload was destroying my contentment.

While it wasn't the only personal change I made, not watching TV had a significant impact on my contentment. I started concerning myself with my immediate world and I realized it wasn't as bad as I imagined. My outlook on life changed to a more positive take on things. It got better and continues to get better.

I found out, by looking, that my motivations for some of the things I did and the feelings I had were not my motivations but were planted in me by someone or something else. Perhaps I sensed that fact and it was a factor in my stress and malcontent.

For the most part, now, I tend to just let the public world spiral away on its own. I focus on my immediate needs, desires and contentment. I no longer classify the people I meet into the labeled groups society initiates. I see people I meet as individual persons. Each one as unique as me. My judgements are based on how that person is to me personally at any given moment.
This is because I have learned to live "in the moment".

I think the greatest thing for anyone is to be able to find their own contentment. I wish you all peace in your heart.

I lived and worked in China for a few years. Over there guns are totally illegal, if you get caught with one you are going to prison for a very long time. So gun violence is extremely rare. Almost unheard of.

But went I was there, over in the next province Chinese Muslim extremist murdered close to 100 people at a train station by hacking them to death.

My point being, take the guns away and a different mode will be used to kill. It is the human mind that kills.. not the gun

I don't own a gun because I don't want to, but taking them away is not going to stop the killing.

There can never be a total Utopia or Dystopia.
This is because nature is not black or white.
Many people forget that human beings are animals.
We have animalistic urges and we are social animals so those urges get magnified by populace.

I was once told that any change is initiated by one.
Advised to lead by example.
The only person you can truly change is yourself.
We create the worlds in which we live.
Either by action or toleration.

Many people get 'locked' into their ways and either see no need to change or refuse to change for fear of the unknown.
One extreme example of this is people who feel trapped in abusive relationships.

This is why parenting is so important.
It is a perpetuating chain of experiences passed along from parents to children.
The values are a tradition.
Most of us think a tradition is only a good thing but traditions are as unique as the people that keep them going.
If you are raised to be warlike, you will like war and raise your own children to be warlike unless the chain of tradition is broken.
As a parent, only you can break the chains of tradition for your children. As a reasonable person, only you can break a tradition once learned.

I grew up with parents that were very bigoted.
For awhile, I was also bigoted.
I had trouble understanding why I was bigoted so I changed, broke that chain.
I then raised my children in a home that was not bigoted.
My children are not bigoted, they are raising their children in homes without bigotry.
The chain was broken by me, the tradition was stopped.

Children are also raised by their social groups.
Absent parenting allows social groups to set their own traditions into the minds of the people in them.
If your children trust you, you can stop destructive traditions inspired by your children's social groups.
The problem is, a lot of parents do not actively parent their children.
Thus, traditions are diverse creating a very wide range of unique personalities which creates turmoil.

Peace is not a universal concept shared by all.
What some people consider peace, others find stifling.
The only peace anyone can ever hope to find is inner peace.
Once inner peace is found, the world around you changes because you perceive it differently.

If you form a society based on people that have their own inner peace, peace spreads.
That is what religions try to do.
What is wrong with religions that causes them not to have peace is they try to change the social groups outside their religion.
They force their idea of peace on others.
They demand a price for that peace.
Forced demands cause conflict, conflict causes stress.

I truly believe that peace on Earth has to start within and that is the only chain than you can break.
Once you find your inner peace, lead by example.

imo...it isn't the guns. the Roman Empire established
itself with the weaponry of its time...i see it this way

the "solitary man" seeks peace and harmony with all..
"groups of men" seek exclusivity from, and dominance of others..

exactly... guns have never been the problem, stupid people are...

If they take away all the guns, someone will find a way to take advantage of that situation, just like people do with guns... The only way the atomic bomb works today is because other Nations have them, not just one nation... The same applys if they take away the guns...

“thank you,argo.thank you,Moe”

i find this to be true and i agree.
my next question: who has the power to stop everything? is it the nation in general? the people?

i hate to see people dying, i dislike the war..the one in the past and the one in the present..

it's balanced right now, but they will still have their guns if ours are taken....not so balanced after that

unfortunately lu no one really has that power. to do it would take applying the same deadly force you are trying to prevent. and someone else would force back to prevent it. like tom said it starts with one and the only one any of us can control is ourselves.

that is what religions try to do and not only. thank you so much for your time.i appreciate your answer.thank you all.

thank you very much.i agree.

true, religions like all social groups have their own agendas.
No worries, One thing I have plenty of now is time.

I have found my personal inner peace.
One thing that is learned is you can't force it on anyone.
What I try to do is offer up a consideration that might lead others to their own sense of peace.
Its always up to them.

i do know it’s not enough..

balanced,how?

Without Guns world would be like cave men days !