Assignment 9 - Ella Franklin

Do you remember the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry told Elaine that Tolstoy''s War and Peace was originally titled War, What is it Good For? and then she said that in front of some big time author? That was funny.

Anyways. I don't like war. In debate team when I was in rounds I would always find myself arguing for peace, whether it supported my side or not. Maybe that's why I did so crappy. I like peace. But it's such a cliche.

Ringo Starr always ends his tweets (I assume he's the one tweeting because they're nothing a self-respecting publicist would send out) with "Peace and love" and a string of emojis. At first I thought "Aw, how cute!" But then I thought about it. Peace and love. What does it even mean? Imagine a world where everyone has the outlook of Ringo. Peace and love. No cars would honk, no people would yell, nobody would fight - it's beautiful!

Once I read that when Martin Luther King (I think) was arrested, he told all the police officers he loved them. I might have the details wrong, but the point still stands - when someone throws hate your way, receive it with love. Just imagine someone getting mad at you and telling them you love them. It's crazy, they would think you're a stupid hippie, but it's true! How can you be mad at someone who loves you? And shouldn't we love everyone in the world? Love, after all, is the only thing we can have in this world and whichever one follows.

I apologize for sounding like a dirty hippie. But the core of war is hate, and the core of peace is love. I know our world is complicated and President Obama can't go up to Putin and just say "I love you" and then all problems will be resolved. I'm not impractical. But I do prefer peaceful resolution of conflicts. It doesn't always work, and I think that is a fault of our society not knowing how to love. If we can successfully counter peace with love, we can at least eliminate some war. As saying Ringo himself drummed to, all you need is love!