We are always living in History in the making, some years are more notable than others and sometimes there are worldwide incidents that will overshadow the rest. We are living in times where extremism has once again reared its not so pretty head, world superpowers trying to regain once lost territories with little regard for human life or freedom. And almost in every nation’s political system, there is a battle between the extremes of their political parties.

The civilian population is being fed political propaganda of one sort or another through opinion pieces often disguised as news which leaves them either divided or confused. Democracies are facing growing pains and some want to say that democracy is dying, though I just believe it is growing and changing. Any political system that is too rigid and/or too inflexible to adapt to change in the world is destined to fail.

So here we are at a pivotal and important time in history, will we navigate through it and come out the other side better as a whole? We are on the edge of what may be a world war, a war that could bring about the end of humanity and possibly all life. What we do individually is as important as what we do collectively in the end. Of course, the war scenario is more in the hands of the leaders of all the world nations, but it is the lives of each person that will be put on the line.

War is never a good option, though it will always be an option as long as we have militaries and conflicting national interests. Diplomacy is a better option but it requires all sides to be willing to compromise to bring peace. As we see in Ukraine war is a terrifying and ugly thing to live through. There is very little respect for life and/or compassion on the battlefield and most of the time civilians are looked at as unfortunate casualties / Fatalities of war if not cannon fodder by some.

Extremism, Imperialism, and nationalism are all diseases infecting the world and may one day bring the end of humanity if we are not very careful. I am not saying one shouldn’t be proud of their nation or that you should abandon having your extreme ideals, I am saying you should also be open-minded to the possibility that there are other views and nations that could be just as good if not equal to your own.

Well, what do I know? I am just an average man in the mix and these are just my opinions that were formed from my half-century worth of experiences. I could be wrong just as well as I could be right or somewhere in the middle. I do know that war is not a good thing, what happened in Ukraine to the civilian population thus far is an atrocity and should never have happened.

We are at a pivotal point in history, which way will we pivot? what will be the new direction of humanity as a whole? We will continue down the road of war, greed, and extremism? or will we find a better path for humanity and forge a future all of our children can be proud of and live in. The choice is not only in the hands of the Governments that rule our nations, the choice is in everyone’s hands in the end.