We live with too many conflicts, too many wars and too many men in charge.
I am convinced on whatever continent we happen to live, and whatever our condition in life, the large majority of us yearn to enjoy our days and years in peace.
This is a time when countless millions keep migrating in search of a normal life, away from the constant strife, malnutrition, injustice and inequality that are their fate in unsustainable and often corrupt countries, unable to provide them with the basic necessities of life. Yet these countries, though unable to care for the intense suffering of their citizens, somehow find a way to acquire planes, tanks and other implements of war. Food, water and other essentials of life cannot be provided, but mortars, missiles and rockets are readily available.
Across the continents, autocracy and dictatorship continue to spread their wings of illiberalism and, in several cases, violent conflict and war. And to justify the killings of innocents and ubiquitous destruction, there’s always that most cynical euphemism invented by clever military PR experts: “collateral damage.”
Collateral damage! As if it excuses the violent extinction of even one innocent human life, let alone thousands, including the disproportionate number of children and the most vulnerable.
It is striking since the Second World War, barring a rare exception such as Margaret Thatcher and the brief Falklands War, one common denominator links those involved in conflicts and wars around the globe: they happen to be men. Men frequently suffused with their own inflated importance and oversized egos, relishing their sense of machismo, and ready to justify death and destruction.
We live with too many conflicts, too many wars and too many men in charge. It seems to me that women are inherently and deeply caring of human life, while seeking a peaceful life and peaceful solutions. It is high time to give them their turn, and their opportunity.
Clifford Lincoln is a former Quebec Liberal MNA and federal Liberal MP who retired from politics in 2004. He lives in Baie-D’Urfé.