Can there ever be Peace on Earth?

Do humans want peace on earth? In a world filled with stratification based on various variables such as religion, ethnicity, sex, race, socioeconomic status, political ideology, etc. is peace on earth even possible? We have people unhoused, hungry, and struggling with health issues due to a lack of access. Yet we continue to tell everyone that everything is equal and equitable in our society. Anyone can make it in America; they must pull themselves up by their bootstraps; but what if they have no boots. Self-determination doesn’t always turn into self-actualization due to constraints and systems put in place to ensure that even with grit you may not succeed.

At the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, he documents how physiologically humans have a need for food, water, sleep, breathing, etc. but we have people who don’t have access to the basic items. Data shows that globally, we have over 1.6 billion people living in inadequate housing conditions, and in America, there are over half a million individuals who are unhoused. [1] All demographics suffer from being unhoused but the children I believe suffer the most.

We’ve had a city in America that didn’t have clean drinking water for over a decade, Flint, MI. Other cities that struggle with providing clean water to residents also include Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Portland, Ore. [2] I remember being in my hometown of Milwaukee one summer while home from college and we had to boil our water before we could use it to cook because it was unsafe. We received notification via the news outlets, radio, and notifications sent via postal service. How can a country with so much wealth allow its inhabitants to suffer?

As per the Annie E. Casey Foundation as of 2017, we had nearly 13% of the U.S. population living in low-income and low access areas. Low access areas have challenges to transportation access to health care and are often food deserts. Not having access to healthy food is a major issue when combined with a lack of transportation. [3] Food deserts are common in low-income areas; as a Capitalist nation, businesses do not want to invest in an area where they will see little to no profit. It’s a perpetual cycle of inequality. The human factor of doing the right thing is lost as profit is what drives our society.

I pray that we get to a point where we care more about people than we do money, but I don’t see that happening in my lifetime. While I am working hard to educate people about equity, the value of diversity, and inclusion I see others working just as hard to maintain the status quo. It would be great if we practiced the “Platinum Rule,” which is to treat people the way they want to be treated, but as a society, we are not there yet. I pray for peace on Earth and remain hopeful and actively engaged in the fight to make it a reality!