I'm watching this national geographic documentary "don't tell my mother I'm in the Holy Land".

Basically, it's about this french dude who went to Israel, then popped into the Gaza Strip. What I can say as a lesson from this show is that, we as Singaporeans, are indeed very lucky.

However, lucky doesn't mean we have to look at other people's not so fortunate situation and just say "okay, I'm better off, I should probably just settle for what I have and not complain". If our forefathers had thought like that, we'd be slum town now. Though it's often many of the forefathers who grow old and somehow get a weird impression that the peak of progress has hit in their lifetime and all things must remain constant now, or rather progress in exactly the same manner as it did. But that's not being adaptable and is a sure recipe to a burnt cake.

Anyway, the people in the Israel border city just next to the Gaza Strip lead difficult lives. Whenever rockets are launched, they have to scamper to safety somewhere. They even have bunkers on the streets specifically to protect against the projectiles.

Over in Palestinian land (do note that the terms I use may seem incorrect but I admit I have a limited knowledge of the strife and political situation in that place. If I have offended anyone, I really did not mean to infringe on your beliefs), the people have it even worse. They lack jobs and sustainable basic infrastructure. Not everyone there is bent on war. Many of them just want to make ends meet. Posters of KIA palestinians line the streets. Many of them feature the boys covered in weapons and posing. When quized why they were all holding weapons, the poster shop worker replied that it was more of a trend. Sort of like NUM and Crumpler. Even within themselves, there's a constant struggle between the Hamas and the political alliance of Fatah and another extremist group. Though Hamas supposedly enjoys the majority vote in the public. Which is why they are unofficially the government.

When this french dude visited some party by a fatah group, it was pretty obvious their lives revolved around camaraderie, martyrship, and pride.

I think the solution to better economic conditions lie solely in education. Without the economic benefit and distraction of subjects other than war, the youths are easily led into a full time role of waiting to be deployed for a skirmish with their enemies.

I think the problem is that when they see more developed countries like the USA or Israel making a hostile stance against them, they really want to win this battle. Literally the battle of weapons and lives, and guts. I must emphasize that it is a battle and not the war. Winning a battle is not winning a war. But what I feel is missing from the mindset is the recognition that these countries are economically much more well off and stand to lose less from a conflict with them. I do not think that had the youths been highly motivated to get out of the poverty rut and help build their economy up, they would still endlessly incur a confrontation with their neighbours. Their bargaining power would definitely increase with a more stable living condition. Well you might say "hey who are you to judge what kind of lives they will want to lead?". That's very true. But perhaps it would also make sense if I was stuck in a cycle of poverty but offered a golden chance to live the life of riches, that I would grab it. It hardly makes any sense to want to reject it.

I guess wars will never come to an end. Pursuits of a higher standard of living, tangible and intangible, culturally and non-culturally weighted, power and peace, will inevitably lead to conflicts. Whatever the big powers do have deep underlying reasons which many of us do not know. I do not deny that the states were at fault for the way they handled the Iraq war. But do remember that it helped many people to live in lesser fear than before. I feel that no matter what our stance is towards such matters, it would be wise to acknowledge our layman capabilites are insufficient to comprehend the full picture. When we form a view on whether it is right or wrong, we are merely glazing the surface. Sort of like some people prefer Asics shoes over Adidas shoes. It's actually how the marketing of it appeals to you. That is why, education is the most important asset a person can have to live at peace with his neighbours. Not white dove peace but non-killing peace.

If I somehow manage to make a ludicrous amount of money in the future, my main charity choice would be to educate the less priviledged of the priviledged dream and the privledged of the less priviledged stories. Smart people, smart choices, smart lives..