I took my six-year-old boy to the park the other day. There was only one swing and another boy wanted to play on it too. Without any adult intervention, the two boys decided sharing was the best option, and ended up taking turns, and becoming friends.

Then I read an article about a potential war between two nuclear powers over a piece of land.  The war will lead to the indiscriminate deaths of millions of innocent people on both sides. The leaders would have us believe it’s a complicated issue, but it’s not. Break it down and the cause of the war comes down to insecurity and egos, traits that didn’t motivate my boy and his new friend in their decision making.

Poverty, pollution and overpopulation cannot be resolved without first creating a safe and respectful world in which ideas are exchanged between cultures without these dickheads sabre rattling. It is on them, and them alone, if war breaks out. Murder by murderers.

This world needs a collective voice, created by  the hundreds of thousands of citizens in every country sick of the threat of war. Let’s call this collective COPE (Citizens of Planet Earth), and show our leaders that they are in the minority, that we can get along, that we want all children, everywhere, to have a bright future, that we can share Earth’s swings.

#Cope4Peace

Jonathan Benton