To Catch A Rainbow

Source: Whirling Rainbow above the clouds, Explored! - George Thomas

The world is and always will be in peril. War rages on for one reason or another. Civilian lives are taken by missiles fuelled by hate and greed. Some countries fall to crime and corruption after a glorious era, while others still wait for the day they enter their golden age. People shout and protest in the streets, generating more hate and chaos than meaningful change. At a glance, it seems we live in a troubled world. However, every cloud has a silver lining, and beyond the cloud lies a rainbow we seldom see.

War is inevitable. Thousands of years of human history is also the history of hundreds of thousands of battles. However, these wars built the society we live in today. Through wars, we progress, innovate, destroy, and rebuild what is destroyed. Take World War II for example. The war that destroyed at an unparalleled scale also gave birth to inventions such as radars, computers, and jet engines. Wounded soldiers accelerated the progress of medicine by motivating the mass production of penicillin and advancing medical practices. The nuclear power that mercilessly destroyed the lives of many is also the nuclear power that is paving the way to the cleanest, most efficient form of energy production. Humanity, in the moral sense was pushed to its boundaries–leading to the development of the Nuremberg Code and the Geneva Conventions. The United Nations was created to prevent any more wars of such scale. The devastation left by wars opens up a window for people to work together for the betterment of all humanity, much like how the ash of burnt trees creates a fertilized field for new plants to grow. Of course, I am not weighing what is lost and gained during a war. No amount of technological innovation justifies the deaths of even one civilian. In an ideal society, we would be making progress as everyone worked together to build a better world. However, it is regrettably a part of human nature that we only unite to fight against a common enemy. We unite and work for a better tomorrow through sacrifice and conflict amongst ourselves. Human progress often arises from the ashes of conflict and adversity.

I am not worried about corruption. Even though it continues to be arguably one of the greatest enemies of human progress, I have faith in the people. Good leaders have always been few and far between, often becoming the victims of corruption in one way or another. The progress we’ve made is built on the enduring efforts of the people, not the great guidance of a leader. Countries rise and fall, but people live on. Harsher times make people better at finding hope where there is little. Even when Rome fell, to the farmers, it was nothing more than a change of who they paid their taxes to. Wars and corruption destroy countries, not people. Though there may be more suffering, the fact that we exist here today means that they were all strong enough to continue their legacy. In the end, it is the people who give power to the leader, the people who protest for change, the people who lead revolutions, the people who fight corruption, and the people who suffer and endure in hopes that their descendants will fare better. Let us not forget our power.

However, one thing I do worry about is the sound and fury. Now more than ever the world is filled with people angry at injustice without putting in the effort to make a change. More people know that we live in a troubled world, but not that it has always been this way. Anger without intelligence leads to mobs who destroy without leaving anything constructive behind. The nonviolence people practice nowadays is filled with hostility, making it useless as both a weapon that buys peoples’ sympathy and one that genuinely threatens their opposition. Like a toy gun, it only brings ridicule and mockery. If they wish to make genuine change, they would be better off practicing intelligent nonviolence–one that builds quiet, relentless pressure–or complete unintelligent violence–one that builds extreme tension for a short time. Though nonviolence would be much more effective and preferable over violence, awkwardly sitting between the two will get nothing done. The main cause of this phenomenon seems to be that attendees lack the proper knowledge and experience regarding the topic of protest. They take part in anger they can’t truly relate to, often to satisfy themselves rather than make genuine change. Be not swayed by public opinion; fight only for what you believe is right, not for what others tell you is right. Taking part in protests without intelligence or genuine will to make a change will do more harm than good to those in need.

Too many people forget we live in a perpetually troubled world. The world will always be full of suffering and death. Let us take part without hesitation, worry, anger, or frustration. Do the best we can where we can, accepting that we will never be able to eliminate suffering and corruption. Seething and shouting with hate towards evil will get us nowhere. We may or may not ever catch the rainbow beyond the cloud, but we shall endure with the hope that we may–the way we have for all our history. Maybe, just maybe, one day we will catch the rainbow.

Alex Seo