By Archana Sohmshetty

When someone says war, you probably think of World War 1 or World War 2. When someone says peace though, does your mind go blank, think of more wars, or anti-peace? The quote "War is natural, peace is artificial," is a quote I agree with. I say this because there are many ways to prove it’s true. For example, if you put two guys in the same room, they will probably show their differences rather than similarities and end up starting a fight. If each of those two guys had fifty men with them, then they would probably start a war. If peace were so natural, then we’d be having it right now. All over the world, though, wars are breaking out. Even in ancient times there were wars.

In ancient Egypt, there were many wars. When the Persian king conquered Egypt, the Egyptians gave up hope. Suddenly, the Egyptians regained independence. The Egyptians were happy once again, only to be conquered again. The Persians took over Egypt once again. If peace was natural, then instead of fighting with the Egyptians, the Persians would have went to the Egyptians and talked it out. The Egyptians would compromise and consider different options. They might have had a couple disagreements, but the world would still be peaceful.

In ancient Greece there were so many wars – within itself and with other places. For example, the Mycenaeans taking over the Minoans, The Trojan War (Mycenaeans versus Trojans), The Peloponnesian War (Athens and Thebes fighting for the Northern Peloponnesus), and the Persian War (When Persians took over Greece). There were many more fights, arguments and wars in Greece that didn’t help at all. If peace were natural, then there wouldn’t have been so many wars. If the Greeks compromised with everything that led to wars, then the wars probably wouldn’t have happened. For example, Athens and Thebes fought over the Northern Peloponnesus. Instead of starting a war, they could have split the Northern Peloponnesus into two so that they would both get a piece and be happy. No one’s lives would be taken.

So far, after reading about all the other wars, you might think that there can’t be even more wars in ancient Rome, but there is. When the Plebeians (The lower class of Rome) rebelled against the Patricians (The upper class of Rome), it created a mini war. Then there was Carthage versus Rome in a fight for control over the Western Mediterranean Sea Trade. Also there was the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, and the splitting of the Roman Empire into two. The last two are perfect examples of the quote "War is natural, peace is artificial," When Julius Caesar took over Gaul, he wasn’t allowed to return to Rome. A small civil war took place, and finally Julius Caesar became dictator. If peace were natural, then Julius Caesar wouldn’t have become dictator. He would have made a democracy or republic. Later, Augustus Caesar and Mark Antony both wanted control over Rome. Augustus was Julius Caesar’s grandson, while Mark Antony was a high ranking military officer. They tried to talk over it, but got into an argument. After a small war, Rome ended up splitting into two – Western Rome and Eastern Rome.

You may think "What happened then isn’t the same as what is happening now," but it is. In Iraq, we’ve been sending in troops ever since March 2003. Also about 20,000 troops have been taken to Iraq. Many families have suffered loses due to this. On top of that, the terrorists aren’t even attacking us! "War is natural" reflects what we are doing. We always want to protect ourselves from unthreatening forces, like a child trying to protect herself from the mysterious monster in the closet. Right now in Iraq, we are sending more and more troops while making little progress. As of March 29^th 2008, at least 4,007 troops died. If peace were so natural, why would we have so many people getting killed and seriously injured with war? On top of that, people are making Iraq war movies, encouraging war and encouraging it to go on.

The Iraq war isn’t the only thing that’s happening today that supports the quote "War is natural, peace is artificial," A couple days ago, North Korea and South Korea got into an ‘argument’. North Korea threatened to cut off dialogue with South Korea, because of some comments made by a South Korean military official about being ready to attack it’s wealthy neighbor (North Korea). Some comments are a pretty stupid thing to be mad about. Instead of getting angry at the South Korean officials, the North Korean officials could have talked to South Korea in a civil way. It wouldn’t be a ‘war’ then. As "War is natural, peace is artificial," is true, peace didn’t happen.

War doesn’t determine who is right – only who is left. The quote "War is natural, peace is artificial," is true. Look around the world. Every continent, country, province, state, and city has fights, arguments, and most horribly, wars. Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.