Why can’t we all get along?

Ted Folkert
April 19, 2015

Where is Rodney King when we need him? Okay, just kidding. But, it seems he is better known for his statement after his beating by the LAPD many years ago than for the actual beating. As we all probably remember he was quoted as having said: “Why can’t we just all get along?” Not saying that he was one to always get along, but his presumed statement is a good lead-in for what we are talking about today – human existence.

It is the big question, a rhetorical question that occurs to many us as we note the statistics of the way we are “all getting along” in this world of ours.

7.3 billion, and counting – the population of the planet, as we speak. Since the dawn of human history, approximately 50,000 years ago, the estimates of births on the planet are 90 to 100 billion. If these estimates are correct, 7% of all those born in 50,000 years are still alive today. A big burden on the planet’s resources and an even bigger burden on us “all getting along.”

As we speak, the armed conflicts, those where we are killing or have killed each other that are going on in the world or have occurred in the last year, are overwhelming. Here is a partial list of countries where such are or have occurred:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Iraq, Israel, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine – did I miss anyone? Of course, but the list is already overwhelming. We obviously are not “all getting along”.

And are there other countries involved in such conflicts, actually killing people and destroying infrastructure, that don’t actually have military conflicts in their own countries? Of course, and here is another partial list:

United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Iran – and again, others we omitted.

And, although wars are about political ideals, power struggles, territory, trade abuses, and numerous other inexplicable reasons, some of the more current that we can identify are religious in nature. Although we all probably need some form of religion in our lives and most people would agree that we should all honor religious freedom, the religions with members being killed today include:

Christians, Jews, Islamists, Muslims, Shiites, Sunnis (totaling more than 50%) – and again, others we omitted, including non-religions, agnostics and atheists (16%).

If we consider the countries with the largest populations, such as: China – 19%, India – 18%, United States – 4%, Indonesia – 3%, Brazil – 3%, Russia – 2%, they total more than 50% of the population of the planet. These countries have been able to keep war off their shores for the most part for several decades, while at the same time arming the smaller countries as they kill each other’s people and destroy each other’s infrastructures of life. (Kind of reminds of the financial community in our own country as they pillage the lower and middle class while smiling all the way to the bank, which they own, by the way.)

We are consuming the finite resources available to support generations of future humans in order to manufacture weapons, such as planes, bombs, missiles, drones, etc., so that we can destroy infrastructure that we created out of these same finite resources – and doing it to settle infinite disagreements between countries, between political ideals, and between religions.

What have we learned? We profess to live by the lessons of the past. We profess to live by what was written by political and religious leaders. These are the essence of the political speeches around the planet as would-be leaders seek power. The King James Version of the Bible contains more than a thousand pages, much of which is about human behavior – as I would imagine is the Koran and other religious texts – just as thousands of the volumes of history surely contain. But what have we learned?

Economic benefits take precedence over human life, (i.e., someone else’s human life). Hostility as a resolution of disagreements takes precedence over peaceful resolution. The war-mongers take precedence over the peace advocates. The munitions manufacturers take precedence over infrastructure builders. The proponents of military might take precedence over education, health care, and support for those who need a helping hand.

We have the dog wagging the tail when it comes to the economic benefits of warfare, and we have the tail wagging the dog when it comes to administering human kind, and together human existence is in peril.

What are we thinking about? The surgery was a success but the patient died?

Think about!

Please help us elect better leaders.