Let Them Fight Their Own Wars

Let Them Fight Their Own Wars

I am so tired of watching the world send its young men and women to die, as though their lives are expendable pieces in a game they never agreed to play.

Not as symbols to be debated over, not as distant numbers on a screen, but as real people, with beating hearts and families and futures that should have stretched out in front of them… not been cut short for reasons they never chose and may never fully understand.

There is something profoundly wrong in a world where those who make the decisions, who speak the loudest and carry the most authority, are so rarely the ones who pay the true and lasting price for those decisions.

Sometimes I find myself thinking… if leaders truly hate one another, if conflict is so inevitable, then let them step into a ring and settle it themselves. Let them feel the weight of it in their own bodies, let them carry the risk, the pain, the consequence that they so easily place upon others. Because that, to me, is what real strength looks like.

Even in the worlds I write, where power can be raw, instinctive, and sometimes brutal, the strongest alphas understand something we seem to have forgotten. They do not hide behind their people, nor do they send others forward to suffer in their place. They step forward themselves, and they take the weight of conflict onto their own shoulders, because leadership without responsibility is nothing at all.

And yet, somehow, we have drifted far from that understanding.

Instead, we have built systems that thrive on imbalance… on competition without restraint, on power without accountability, on the quiet acceptance that some lives will always be the cost of maintaining control.

But it does not have to be this way, and perhaps that is the most frustrating part of all.
Imagine something different, something steadier and more humane. A single council, made up of voices from every country, where no one nation stands above another, and no voice is dismissed simply because it is smaller or less powerful. A structure built not on who can take the most, but on ensuring that everyone has enough to live, to grow, to exist with dignity.

A shared system of rights that does not shift depending on borders, politics, or power, but stands firm for all people, equally and without exception.

And here is the part many resist, the part that feels counterintuitive to those who want everything now… even they would benefit from such a system.

Because lasting power does not come from taking more and more until nothing is left. It comes from stability, from trust, from cooperation that builds rather than erodes. A world that is balanced is not a weaker world, it is a stronger one, because it does not constantly threaten to collapse under its own divisions.

A system like this would not strip nations of their strength, it would secure it. It would create space for shared growth, for innovation, for progress that is not overshadowed by fear and conflict. It would mean fewer lives lost, fewer futures cut short, fewer families left trying to understand why.

Because when you strip everything else away, that is what this has always been about.
Not land, not politics, not pride, no matter how loudly those are shouted.

People.

Sons, daughters, friends… lives filled with small, ordinary, beautiful moments that matter more than any victory ever could.

And I cannot help but believe, even now, that we are capable of something better than this, if only we chose to be.

A world that chooses peace before pride… and humanity before power.

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Abbie Shores

⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰ Site Owner • Community Manager Artist • Authoress • Autistic • Lover of Wolves, Woods, and Wild Places • Brit ⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰
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Robin King

This is poignant and truly beautiful, Abbie. And I hope you’re right.
(I’ve closed or am soon closing everything online, exception being this 18-year-old site. I still want to be able to visit people, enjoy their work. If you’d rather have me stay away please let me know. I’ll stop visiting. But I hope I’ll be welcome! If you’re curious about the “MyopesEyes” name, stop by & read “Why MyopesEyes?” in my site Menu. Not including a link bec I don’t know if that’s OK. If this is the last time you want me to reach out to you: Please know that you are the main reason I felt brave enough to finally try FAA and, even tho it apparently can’t continue the way I want, I’ll always be grateful for your presence there. AND you’re an amazing artist & writer!! 🥰 Robin)

Robin King

Thank you, Abbie. Oh…no…I was worried that my very abrupt 2nd departure* from FAA last week was an issue, that that plus my run-on comments might make me less welcome here. I’d understood if they did.

You’re incredibly busy! I’m just happy if you have a moment to read something I leave behind. Replies are extra special.

Congratulations for the book progress! That’s BIG. ::applause:: 🎉
(I hope you’ve designed a celebratory tee shirt for yourself! Someone I knew a long time ago sold a few copies of his poetry collection after wearing a cartoony tee shirt that said, “Epic tales, spun with a poetic spindle.”)

Re shares: May not be many for a little while. Right after I closed/deleted everything everwhere, returned to my old bolt-hole (MyopesEyes), & relaunched it with 2 followers, I was slammed with shingles. Ugh. Most of my time right now is spent trying not to scream. Pickles (my cat) is hearing words she’s never heard before! But I’ve bookmarked things here that I want to share when I’m up to speed again. And today I’ll do the RSS feed sub thing again so I don’t miss your new posts. Having nowhere to sell anything now means that I have time to do other things

Well, this has turned another long comment so I’ll stop. 🥰👋

*I did send an explanatory reply immediately afterwards. But it’s an old issue & I suppose nothing can be done. I’m grateful for the opportunities and the happiness, however short-lived.

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