Past Essays

Past Winners: [ Zoe, 2002 ] [ Neil, 2003 ] [ Lee, 2004 ] [ Cassandra, 2005 ]

"Laws are partly formed for the sake of good men, in order to instruct them how they may live on friendly terms with one another, and partly for the sake of those who refused to be instructed, whose spirit cannot be subdued, or softened, or hindered from plunging into evil." Plato

Theme for 2005: Sometimes it seems as if the world is too full of disaster. It doesn’t matter if it is a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Katrina) or a man-made disaster (politica, social, etc.), violence and social injustices often result. Suggest some ways in which society’s injustices resulting from a devastating disaster could be addressed in a peaceful way.

Winning Essay 2005

by Cassandra Robinson
Brookings, Oregon

The concept of peace is a fluid one. It carries with it many connotations, ranging from non-violence to tranquil paradise. Things happen in this world that we can’t stop, predict, or control, but we can control our reactions. Reacting in a peaceful way shows integrity and strength of caracter and I believe that we all have the choice of making peace no matter what the devastation if we only conjure enough strength within ourselves to stand by it.

Perhaps the most devastating even thtat shook our nation this year ws Hurricane Katrina. The devastation didn’t cease with the surface destruction, it went further, revealing corruption both in our government and our cities. This single disaster infiltrated our intire economy. When Hurricane Katrina hit the southeast the citizens of American discovered that our nation is incapable of responding to such a disaster with mature solutions. Our most trusted officials simply pointed fingers and juggled the blame, leaving the victims in a state of panic and without any immediate aid. Our nation’s leaders and their constitutients should have left the blame game on the self and rolled up their sleeves, becoming a part of the solution to the catastrophe instead of contributing additional stress to those who were suffering from the efrfects. In reality, many of us chose to defame President George W. Bush and the governor of New Orelans, rather than joint the American Red Cross and help correct the mistake.

Disasters, however, aren’t always as dire as hurricanes. They can take place on the local level also. In the past year, I have been subject to more fighting at school, murders and rapes, and social chaos than I have ever been a witness to before. The days of nonviolence, mediation, and willingness to cooperate are quickly diminshing in numbers. The concept of “peaceful negotiations,” along with many other positive alternatives to society’s injustices are being replaced with violence and cowardly actions. Instead of reacting with inner-strength and willlpower when tempted to engage in a physical dispute, our citizens are choosing to react with vehemence, fighting back and waging war against their opponents. The days of Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers seem to be fading into the past, along with all they stood for. I believe that the only way to bring back the teachings of peace and the only way to instill them in our hearts and our families once again is to remember that the simplest rules are the only rules that need be applied to even the most complex of situations.

Sharing, compromising, respecting one another, taking responsibility for your own actions; do these basic rules of humanity strike a familiar chord? Perhaps because most, if not all of us learned them as children. Many times our “adult” ways of thinking cloud our memories of the past. Take, for example, the wars that are taking place in the Middle East between the different religious groups. The Israelites have been at war with the Palestinians since the beginning of time. Their main objective is to gain control over the Holy Land. If the leaders would think back to their childhood, a solution is easily presented; share it! Develop more tolerance for the petty religious differences and respect each groups’ right ot practice their own beliefs. Another example is the genocide in Rwanda, Africa. The Hutu, Tutsi and Twa cultures vary only by occupation and certain accents, as well as religious believes in some cases, however that has nto stopped tehm from kiling millions of inhabitants of the country of Rwanda. Again, the simple concepts of tolerance, acceptance, respect, compromise, etc. apply.

Most people spend so much time focusing on the probloem, constantly blaming everyone else and trying ot get to the heart of it, that they miss the connection to the solution. I think peace will come to this world when its inhabitants cease to could their minds with the details of the controversy and learn to look past it to search for solutions. We need to remember and cherish the lessons that we have learned in the past and apply them to the complications of the present and future. Peace, in any form, will only be achieved through consistency and firm beliefs. John F. Kennedy once said, “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowing eroding old barriers, quietly building new structions,” and I couldn’t agree more.

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