Why Can’t We All Be Friends

Posted on February 19, 2009 by Markus Stocker, Recommended 0 | Recommend

As part of a worldwide project, Anthony Pape, 10, of Du Bois, Pa., offers his hopes to the “new guy in the White House,” on Presidents Day, Washington’s Birthday,

I hope that we will have no war ever again. I mean why are we fighting why can’t we all be friends. (Anthony Pape, DailyNews)

Presidents Day was on Monday, February 16 2009. On Tuesday, February 17 2009, Obama said “he would send an additional 17,000 American troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer.”

Dear Anthony, the world of adults calls it “childhood innocence” and some of us wish we had it, arguing this world would be a much more friendly and peaceful place. We make it sound like we lost it, somewhere on the way while growing up and no one seems to know where, when or why. The truth is, no matter how old we are, we have it. We just don’t remember where we misplaced the instructions on how to access it.

Trust, some say, is exhausting to nurture. Ceaselessly, we question it. In our small worlds, we question the trust of friends, intimate and professional relationships. In our big world, governments mistrust the word of governments. It consumes us and what we later call “childhood innocence,” feels to be nothing but a nostalgic memory of a long extinct candle light. And so, in our small worlds, we imagine friendships, we dream intimacy, we wish not to feel like abused shareholder value maximizing marionettes. In our big world, we declare war, chasing ghost’s nuclear warhead or we grant the doomsday threat to countries with blind submarines and fight just the same for countries we suppose breed terrorism.

Dear Anthony, try not to misplace the instructions. Later, with words adults understand, write us a note and secretly hope “childhood innocence” will cease turning into a mere lost feeling.

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Category: International, Quote, Thoughts
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Comments

One Response to “Why Can’t We All Be Friends”

  1. Anthony, You May Want to Take Notes : Markus Stocker
    February 19th, 2009 @ 6:43 pm

    [...] asked, Why Can’t We All Be Friends, and this case might well be another example of government mistrust, arrogance and superiority [...]

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