Peace is upon us when we realise that peace is up to us
We stand at a critical juncture in human history, where the fragmentation of our collective consciousness has led us to normalise what should be unthinkable. Violence, in all its forms, has become so embedded in our social fabric that we’ve grown numb to its devastating impact, particularly on the most vulnerable among us: our children.
This collective dissociation represents the most profound failure of our potential. The evidence surrounds us daily, the normalisation of conflict, the industrialisation of warfare, the economic incentivisation of division, all while our deeper human wisdom remains muted.
Yet beneath this constructed reality lies a profound truth: if granted authentic democratic expression, free from manipulation, propaganda, and manufactured consent, humanity would overwhelmingly choose peace. The vast majority of us, when connecting with our essential human values, desire a world where cooperation triumphs over competition, where resources sustain rather than destroy, where our children inherit wisdom rather than warfare.
What we lack is not the will but the mechanisms for its expression. Our current systems amplify voices of division while marginalising the collective yearning for harmony that resides in most human hearts. This represents not just a failure of governance but a subversion of true democratic principles. Humanity’s journey depends on the independent agency of our creative human intelligence.
The path forward requires nothing less than a fundamental reimagining of how collective will is expressed. We need democratic innovations that can accurately capture and amplify our shared aspiration for peace, referendums that transcend national boundaries, platforms that elevate our common humanity over manufactured differences, and leadership that derives legitimacy from unifying rather than dividing. An authentic 21 century human organism organising of all voices.
The peace narrative can become our dominant paradigm not through coercion but through recognition of what most of us already know: that our survival and flourishing as a species depends on our ability to live in harmony with each other and our planet.
At its core, this transformation requires a fundamental shift in our collective psychological orientation, from an external locus of control where power is measured by capacity to dominate, to an internal locus of social wellbeing where strength is defined by our ability to nurture and sustain. This new paradigm recognises that genuine fulfilment and happiness emerge not from conquest but from connection, not from accumulation but from contribution. When societies value caregiving as highly as competition, when education systems prioritise emotional intelligence alongside intellectual achievement, when economic systems reward regeneration rather than extraction, we create the psychological foundations for lasting peace. The profound satisfaction that comes from nurturing life rather than destroying it represents not just a moral imperative but the most direct path to collective harmony and individual fulfilment.
The greatest transformation of our time will not be fought with weapons but with the courage to believe that peace is not merely an ideal but the most practical choice before us. When we fully recognise that worldwide peace depends on us, on our collective choices, our institutional designs, and our willingness to demand better, then will we manifest the world our hearts already know is possible. Peace is upon us when we realise that peace is up to us, to all of us adding new steps to humanity’s future, honouring the children, respecting all life.
By Márcia Mar
Márcia Mar
(Mimesis Artist who lives in London)
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