Why There Can Be No Peace
WORLD PEACE is repeatedly put forth as desirable ― and yet, wars perpetuate. In reality, peace is no more than a lauded end-state whose true function is to remain unattainable.
Decade after decade, conflicts roll on around the globe. The flags may differ, but the outcomes remain the same: Cities are flattened, regional unrest fosters and spreads, and lives are ruined. But most notably of all, profits are made.
This is not a failure of diplomacy.
It is the system working exactly as designed.
The warning we chose to ignore
IN 1961, then US President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a final warning as he left office.
Eisenhower was no antimilitarist peacenik, he was a five-star general. He knew war. He also saw what was on the horizon, and he was deeply troubled by it.
In short, he warned of the Military-Industrial Complex. A tight knot of arms companies, generals, politicians, and money. A killing machine that grows stronger the more it is fed.
His message was simple:
When war becomes an industry, peace becomes the enemy.
We ignored him.
War ― the new normal
THE SECOND World War built vast weapons industries. When it ended, they did not close. They looked for a reason to stay alive ― to continue to thrive, and to prosper.
The Cold War supplied such justification. Then came the War on Terror. Then ‘defence modernisation’. Then ‘deterrence’.
Different labels were attached to the same logic. Factories must run. Contracts must be signed. Share prices must rise. So threats must be found …
… and if none exist, they can be manufactured.
Lies and more lies
REMEMBER ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’?
We were told Iraq could strike in 45 minutes. We were told the danger was immediate. Certain. Beyond doubt.
The compliant (complicit?) mainstream media was mobilised ― as it always is ― spreading fear, and sowing the seeds of justification for the crimes to follow.
It was a lie. It’s always a lie.
No weapons were found. The country was destroyed anyway. Millions of innocents displaced. Hundreds of thousands dead. Countless lives ruined.
Those who sold the lie were not punished. They were promoted, knighted, enriched.
The war had already served its purpose, and shareholders were smiling.
Wars by remote control
MODERN WARS are rarely declared outright. They are convoluted conflicts managed behind the scenes, and cleverly showcased across media platforms to support prevailing narratives.
Risk is further reduced by proxy wars, where others do the fighting and the dying. Arms production accelerates, weapons are shipped out, and profits roll in.
Ukraine, for example, is presented as a simple story. Good versus evil. No matter that history is rewritten to suit policy. Or that fundamental facts are ignored, brushed aside or erased. ‘Look here, don’t look there,’ is the media’s mantra. Context is erased. Questions are discouraged.
Meanwhile, the war drags on. Weapons production surges. Defence budgets balloon. Arms firms post record gains.
That is not failure.
That is success.
The flags in the windows
AND THEN there are the flags.
Blue and yellow hanging outside homes. Draped from balconies. Slotted into social media profiles like a badge of virtue.
It is a gesture that’s meant to say I care.
But what is actually being supported? Not the Ukraine, that’s for sure.
Not peace. Not negotiations. Not the innocents caught in the crossfire.
What is being endorsed—albeit unknowingly—is the continuation of war itself. Each flag flown is the product of a narrative handed down by a dissembling media, simplified into slogans that demand loyalty and solidarity, but forbid critical thought.
These gestures shorten nothing. They challenge no power. They question no interests. Instead, they provide moral cover for a system that thrives on bloodshed and calls it togetherness.
Good intentions do not stop wars.
They make them easier to sustain.
The media’s role
NONE OF this works without help.
Switch on the news. The language is ready-made. ‘Security’. ‘Inevitable’. ‘No alternative’. We hear it time after time. Well-worn and jaded narratives are rolled out again and again ― but they work, each and every time. Are we really so ignorant?
Government claims are repeated. Dissent is sidelined. Critics are mocked or smeared.
Complex confrontations are flattened into emotive issues of morality. News studio backdrops change colour. Flags appear. And off set, sabres rattle and the drumbeat continues.
War is framed as normal. Peace as naïve.
Why peace is impossible
PEACE WOULD mean fewer weapons sold, fewer contracts signed, and less influence for those who profit massively from fear, from suffering, from death.
Peace would necessitate admissions. Accountability. An end to convenient lies.
That will never be allowed.
So there will always be another threat. Another enemy.
Another reason why war must continue.
This is a system for which endless war is not a tragedy.
It is the business model.
Until that is faced, peace will remain impossible—
not because it cannot be achieved,
but because too many powerful people cannot afford it.
RAVEN MOON 