World peace

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Social media genius asks, “What is the biggest impediment to world peace at the moment?”

Predictable enough answers: greed, ego, colonialism, the Great Satan, idiocy, defence companies, toxic ideologies, the military-industrial complex, the lack of respect, the establishment —

But isn’t the answer, the hope for something better?

We might not like the idea of conflict, but isn’t its absence even more horrifying?

The absence of conflict implies a settled consensus, that all mysteries have been resolved, all questions answered, all unknowns eradicated. It implies total homogeneity of need, want and value. There is no partisanship, no contest, no sport, no competition for resource. There is none of the uncertainty, or opportunity of life: we are on known and understood rails; what we must do to stay upon them is clear and can be automated.

There are no disputes, doubts, disagreements or contrarians. A contrarian would, if one were even possible, be simply one who is wrong. But a contrarian, or an erroneous person would not be possible, for she might dispute the consensus and create a conflict.

Lasting world peace implies, in short, the end of days.