Unrest in the world arises out of unresolved conflicts between people. Nations war against nations, political groups fight with one another and among themselves, religious fanatics kill innocent people indiscriminately, neighbours quarrel with one another and family members do not speak to one another for months.
Beside all these things there is also unrest caused by criminals performing their daily tasks of robbing, cheating and killing.
So much unrest occurs in all strata of society. What are the reasons?
There are many reasons why conflicts between people occur. One country may accuse another of trespassing on its territory while another may invade its neighbour for so-called economic reasons. Religious groups can, and have, in the name of their religion persecute and kill those who do not agree with them. Ideological differences are the main factor causing the squabble between political parties. Family members may not speak to one another because some of them want to ruin the lives of the others.
Robbers and cheats abound because of the overpowering desire to become rich without working honestly for it. These criminals are too consumed by their greed to care about the consequences of their actions. All they want is money and lots of it. They would do almost anything and employ any means to achieve their aims. Anybody who stands in their way stands a good chance of getting hurt or killed. So they carry on, causing anger, fear and unrest among the more law-abiding people.
There are as many reasons for unrest as there are cases of unrest that occur. The reasons may be particular to the cases concerned, but basically all these reasons seem to have one trait in common, and that is, differences between people.
No two persons think alike. To have two persons agreeing completely on one issue is as impossible as finding gold at the end of a rainbow. Two different persons will have two different and unique opinions or attitudes toward things. So with a group of persons, the differences multiply beyond manageable proportions. If each person insists that only his opinion is correct, disagreement and unrest are sure to follow.
These differences between people are the reason why we have so many different political groups, religious sects, martial arts, private clubs and so on. Everybody prefers that things are done according to his wishes. Nobody likes to be told that his opinion is wrong. A lot of people are not satisfied with what they have. So they go about trying to bend the world to suit their desires. They manipulate things to get what they want. Others do the same. Unavoidably they will step onto one another’s toes That is when they experience conflict. That is how unrest begins.
What are the remedies? What can be done about this unrest?
From a practical point of view, there seems to be no way unrest can be got rid off completely. The only possibility is to reduce it to a tolerable level. How then do we do this?
First, of all, there is a need for tolerance and respect. We have to learn to tolerate and respect other people’s opinions and ideas. They are inescapable facts of life simply because we are all different persons, physically and mentally. There is no need to cause further differences by insisting that only our opinions are correct and others are all wrong. It only makes the situation worse.
Secondly, we cannot force any of our ideas or opinions onto any other person. To do so is to meet with resistance. Again unrest can be created.
Thirdly we have to reduce our desires and greed for material things. It is stupid to grab wealth from others thinking that it would make our lives happier, for, if we are caught, we cannot use the wealth and if we are not caught, we will be so fearful about spending our ill-gotten gains that we will realise that happiness has eluded us.
Finally, when it comes to the matter of living together in this world of ours. Do we really want peace? Do we really want this unrest to go away? Do we really want to live together without fighting with one another? if so then we can try to practise the above three suggested remedies honestly. if not then we can let the unrest carry on and probably increase in magnitude till the point where there is no return. The nuclear bomb can end all these unrest for us, permanently.