When one is educated, respects others, and has a strong sense of justice, it's impossible for the trumpets of war to dent our eardrums. The type of response that leans toward confrontation is often typical of ignorant people who lack a shred of culture and are inclined to resolve conflicts through brute force or weapons. Educated people with a medium to high level of reasoning rarely allow themselves to be carried away by the momentary confusion or anger that may arise in discussions, debates, or conversations between peers. This is because their opinions are based on evidence, and their arguments are the product of measured and in-depth analysis.

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Getting into absurd arguments by raising your voice and using brusque manners only serves to alter the potential negative consequences that could arise from what could have been a friendly conversation, leading it into territories that degenerate into absurd, illogical, and ridiculous situations.

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Allowing for historical differences, this was the theme that prompted the famous Leo Tolstoy to write "War and Peace" in 1869, based on the Napoleonic Wars and other extraordinary battles such as the Battle of Austerlitz against the anti-French coalition organized by Great Britain. This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why today I take the appropriate literary license to refer to the illustrious work of the distinguished Russian writer and add it to the title of this article, which I hope readers will take for granted.

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Why do men have to fight over territory, power, fortunes, egos, ideologies, and other factors of greater or lesser importance to fight to the death on the battlefield? Could it be that testosterone is damaging older leaders, and they don't dare admit it? Why don't they—the leaders—go to the trenches and instead content themselves with sending immature young men to die in senseless wars? Aren't such figures ashamed to fight ideologies from the comfort of their homes while young men are killed by the shrapnel of so-called "enemies"? 

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From my perspective, it's shameful that young men who haven't even learned to shave are seen carrying lethal weapons in an attempt to eliminate other young men they don't know and who, like them, are following orders from boastful and selfish pseudo-leaders of their countries, whose sole purpose is to exalt and attempt to glorify their respective egos.

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As long as nations become aware of philosophies more in tune with the reality in which they live, they will continue to decimate innocent people who trust them as their leaders, and these—these self-proclaimed leaders—do nothing but boast in front of their screens, knowing that the pack of fanatics who follow their pronouncements will be excited and will parrot like a parrot their outdated slogans, out of context in today's world.

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Millions of years before Cain killed his brother Abel—according to experts in chronology—human beings were already slaughtering each other in wars and bloody conflicts over absurd trifles and stupid offenses related to their respective beliefs and opinions on how society should be moving forward. Since then, groups of like-minded people also formed, protecting each other from perceived enemies and fighting tooth and nail over their ideological differences, philosophizing ad nauseam. 

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Perhaps this is why we haven't been surprised to read about the hundreds of thousands of incidents that have occurred on the planet throughout its history, with their resulting staggering number of fatalities at the hands of our fellow humans. These are situations that have always cornered us in some way, and from which our neurons have failed to protect us with civility, that is, without resorting to belligerence and avoiding conflagration. 

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Perhaps this was the reason why the distinguished Colombian writer José María Vargas Vila, faced with the debacles facing humanity in his time, posed that powerful question in one of his most enlightened moments: "When will this race of buffaloes across a meadow of roses end?" A simple phrase that encompassed the disasters of that time in the world, inherited from previous hostilities that arose in both the most advanced cities and the most remote and isolated places on the globe. 

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And, saddest of all, those who are embarrassed by these disruptions to social life seem to lack the political capital, character, influence, or publicity to make the rest reflect. A remnant who feels helpless, embarrassed, and simply lets themselves be swept along by the currents of the moment in their area; and then they and their families are tossed by the belligerent environment, without an ounce of mercy, toward rival territories where resentment and the complexes of the uninformed and ignorant rule the roost. 

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That said, in passing, some may consider this information as just another statistic. However, in the social context, they should appreciate its extraordinary weight: knowing that many of our fellow human beings may be in danger, buffeted by the fluctuations of political or religious opinions; both are extremely dangerous when not analyzed with due common sense. One need only look at certain events that have taken place throughout the world's history. 

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The Holy Wars unleashed by Muslims in the 11th century left hundreds of thousands of Christians dead. And as if to balance the power of the faiths, Christians later developed the so-called Crusades in the 12th century, with a very similar outcome. Later, to leave no doubt about their power, they carried out the Inquisition, which also left tens of thousands dead in its wake. 

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The above goes some way to explaining why subsequent civilizations—from then until now—seem to have inherited the tendency to wage war among themselves in their quest for supremacy, leaving millions of children and their families orphaned, and stirring up resentment and hatred among vast societies simply for thinking differently. It's as if they can't breathe without the smell of gunpowder penetrating their nostrils amid the heat of battle.  

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For my part, I patiently hope that future generations will bring the necessary sense of purpose and shame to their journey on the planet, and that our children, grandchildren, and other relatives and friends can live happily and enjoy life, regardless of their beliefs or what social, political, or religious institution they belong to. What truly matters is living in peace.