Please forgive me, but it's time to be blunt: Clearly, we have not learned from history and are therefore doomed to repeat it.
Yes, I am talking about WAR …
Though we might have just started one with Iran, this post is not solely about our own government and its actions, but also as we have seen from every regional conflict to date – from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, to Ukraine, to the actions of Israel in Gaza. War is not “simply” a U.S. thing (though we seem to be the ones quickest to jump in the last several decades).
We often hear that wars are fought for the “sanctity of the nation,” as if a country were a fragile sacred object that must be defended at all costs. On a certain level, that is true. But a country is not a person. Though it may appear to have a “collective” ego, like most things -- that is an illusion. Check with the masses in society, you’ll see that most just want to go about living their lives and want nothing to do with war, regime change, etc.
When we look closely at history, we see a recurring pattern: wars begin not with the soul of a nation but with the ego of a leader. A leader feels threatened, disrespected, or entitled. A leader wants to be remembered, to expand, to dominate, to avenge. And because that leader’s identity is fused with the nation, their personal desires are presented as national destiny.
The flag becomes a mask.
The rhetoric of patriotism becomes a shield for egoic ambition.
And ordinary people — who want only to live, love, and raise their families — are swept into the storm created by one person’s inner conflict.
Spiritually, this is a profound reminder: the work of peace begins within the individual. Ego is not just a personal obstacle; it is a collective danger when magnified by power.
A nation does not go to war. A leader does.
And until humanity learns to see through the illusion of ego — whether in ourselves or in those who claim to represent us — we will continue to mistake personal ambition for national necessity.
Peace is not the absence of conflict; it is the absence of ego masquerading as righteousness.
This is what we must learn … and choose better when it comes to our “leaders.”