My+Writing+Workshop+Piece

War, Violence, and Peace

I am doing my third trimester piece on violence in wars, world, and peace. First off, wars are usually started by an argument or the struggle for power between two groups. An example of a war started by an argument is the Civil War. The war started because of the argument whether or not to keep slavery in the U.S. or not. An example of a war that was caused by the struggle for power is the Revolutionary War. The Americans were tired of being ruled by the British so they wanted to make their own country, but Britain wanted to rule America, which led to the Revolutionary War. The Iraq War is a confusing one since it combines both reasons for a war. At first it was a struggle for power when the U.S. was trying to make Saddam Hussein leave office. I think it then became an argument war because of the arguments of religious groups, but that’s only an opinion. One thing that most wars have in common is violence. Almost all wars have violence like shooting, bombing, and other harmful things. Many die and their families grieve for the loss. One of the horrible things that come out of wars is the devastation. Many things, living and non-living are destroyed in war. Structures that people had worked hard and long building are destroyed. Nature is also destroyed. Flowers, trees, and other plants are destroyed. Animals are killed when fights lead to their habitats. Innocent people are killed if they cannot evacuate a place that’s under attack. Peaceful acts can cause good results while doing the opposite can only bring bad things. One of the very few good things that come out of wars is peace, but do deaths, destructions and depressions caused by war justifies it? Leaders should talk about problems instead of fighting, but I think they fight because of pride and power. Many people, Martin Luther King, Jr. for example, opposed violence. He always used non-violent maneuvers in his protests and was against the Vietnam War which was going on at the time. After 13 years of non-violent protests, he finally got the equal rights for blacks that he fought for. But, sadly, there are people who use violence to get what they want. Recently, there is Saddam Hussein who oppressed and terrorized his own people and supported terrorism that even affected the U.S. With the help of other countries, he was overthrown and later on, executed by his own people. If there was more peace, then the world will be a better place. Most of the money that would normally be put into wars would be used to make better technology and helping out poor countries. Nation would probably work together to make a better world. Nature and structures would remain intact for a long time for they will not be destroyed by the weapons of war. But one of the biggest effects of war is that people don’t die because of being killed in a war. Families do not experience death of a loved one and they would not have to miss them. These are my feelings about war, violence, and peace.