I have written before on the campaign on prevention of terrorism in the Netherlands, which is exclusive, in a way, or which misuses feelings of fear. Eurotopics found another inspiring article, in Die Presse this time, which explains in a ‘beautiful’ way the difference between peace and security…
“The European behaved as if this war wasn’t taking place in Europe, as if it had nothing to do with him. …You yearn for peace, but we don’t want to give you any of our peace, Europeans tell those who risk their lives to come here. Yet you can’t own peace. It’s not a thing, it’s a state. I come across the word ’security’, unlike the word ‘peace’, on a daily basis. … The word ’security’ is not a word that promotes peace. It’s a word that excludes.”
Interesting thought, although I wonder if it’s peace people want more than security. Exclusion offers security precisely through exclusion and I think it’s security that people yearn more than peace.
Peace might seem like an unreachable ideal in some cases and it is this fear and uncertainty that leads people to prefer personal security.
Another thing I’ve been thinking about… do I, as a young European woman, have any concept of what war really is and therefore understand the concept of peace? Am I able to understand fully what it means when our country is at war somewhere far away? Does it mean anything to me when this type of war is marked by extra attention to our personal security? If this security is what we protect when we’re at war, how am I able to distinguish between peace and that which we are trying to protect, that no longer being peace?
Sorry if I’m becoming too philosophic, am fascinated by the topic.
By: AnnaDenise on March 28, 2008
at 11:11 pm