I don’t know what United States intelligence has gathered so far against Iran, but I am at a stage in life when the call for peace is louder than the call for war. Why did US President Donald Trump decide to bomb Iran? Now I am praying for the exchange of bombs to end because it has already affected the lives of peoples in the world. In the Philippines, the immediate effect is on the economy. The rising prices of gasoline and diesel have already affected the prices of commodities also. The rice that I bought at P62 per kilo has as of this writing reached more than P70 per kilo.
The skyrocketing prices have affected even the lower middle class people, like me, a retiree. That is why fear is with me nowadays because I am already too old for things like this. I would have been less afraid if I were younger. The fire in my belly would have allowed me to carry on. Still, a sari-sari store owner nearby expressed his support of Trump’s decision to bomb Iran because of his fear that the Muslims will dominate us someday.
Part of the blame is on the image built by Muslims worldwide. Many Christians fear Muslim dominance because of the cultural divide that separates believers of the two religions. On the other hand, Muslims in the Middle East have developed a hatred for the West and what they represent because of the attacks some western forces have been waging against them.
The current war has pushed us farther and farther away from peace. There was a time when I imagined a world where peace reigns and economic growth has replaced the destruction that war brings. Those places destroyed by wars would have been some of the best tourist destinations in the world had fear not been blanketing them. Look at Vietnam after war ravaged it for decades. It is growing economically and threatening the Philippines with its growth.
Even China has slowly become a power in Asia now that the United States is losing steam in the region. I was amused when a Facebook friend, who has been using his SUV for only a few years, recently asked about the availability in the Philippines of those modern electric vehicles from China. This, after the war spiked fuel prices in the country.
Which brings me to a point that the current war has unwittingly brought about. It has prodded manufacturers to speed up the development of sources that do not rely on fossil fuel. The development of alternative sources of power may have been slow, true, but it is constant. What is needed is another push to make the world less reliant on fossil fuel.
Wars in the Middle East have become costly globally because of our reliance on fossil fuel that the region has been producing. When the world’s reliance on renewable energy grows and the technology and production of such energy develop and cheapen, wars like what is happening now will be less of a burden for peace-loving peoples everywhere.
My hope is that the development of alternative sources of energy won’t be outstripped by the surfacing of warmongers disguised as world leaders.