A Note to the Youth of Conflicts

Peace is attainable. It is difficult. All youth subjected to conflicts desire a measure of normalcy, but to satisfy those desires, you the youth of conflicts must be on guard against those who seek to radicalize your fragile thoughts in order to promote their own hidden agendas that contribute to continuous conflicts and many failed prospects. 

From way back in the last millennium during my bare-footed childhood days in the Caribbean, the sweet fantastic phrase of "world peace" has always been a lure to me. The Utopian rhetoric of Marks and Engels appealed to me as a viable vehicle to "world peace". I found comfort in an elaborate dream that my days of stubbing my big-toe against the embedded stones in the unpaved  dirt-compacted paths bordered by sugarcane fields around my village, would soon come to an end and that my paths and the inequalities to which I bore witness would soon become smooth. 

Referencing Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and literature filtered to me at age 14 from Kim II Sung of North Korea and from Cuba's Granma newspaper, I envisioned ascending  a lush gentle hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to the north and to the east and the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, and from there, in victory with my comrades over the aristocracy, we would enjoy peace and prosperity.

But Marx, Engels, North Korea and Cuba, all omitted one very important part of the fantasy of radicalization that they pitched to a fatherless boy: that he will grow up. I grew up. And the fallacies of radicalization become very apparent with maturity. Today, now long-in-the-tooth, I affirm to you that the changes you seek or wish for your lands could only come through peace, stability and a reformation of the social, political and economic systems that have brought conflict to your homes. Radicalization to avenge past wrongs committed against you and your people is self- defeating and  counter productive that would bring devastation  upon you, your children and their children. Look at North Korea, is that the type of society you desire? Look at Cuba.

As radicals seek to influence you, one determining factor must be whether or not that preached advocates peace? Conflict has gotten your nations into the predicaments of which they find themselves today, so clearly, peace must reign for stability and prosperity to inherit the land. You are not the first, nor will you be the last to have carrots and virgins dangled before you as enticements to carryout someone else's agenda. Resist the urge. Your best futures are in the development of your systems of governance upon the tenets of freedom, fairness and justice. 

You will grow up. You are the vanguard of all changes in your society. Do not allow those dwelling on a sour past to entice you into further conflict. Seek peace, freedom and prosperity.