Larry O’Brien

For Christmas, my son gave me a book by scholar Fareed Zakaria.  This Christmas present brought me much peace over the holidays so I thought I would share an important message that I learned from reading the book. According to Zakaria: “we feel less safe today, then we really are.”

We are in fact probably living in the most peaceful time in the history of mankind. Although it may seem like I am wearing rose coloured glasses when I make this statement as we hear “breaking news” about some of the atrocities occurring around the world, but the truth is we do live in peaceful times.  It may at times feel like an unsafe world but it is not. The facts are there to back it up.

According to the Professor Gurr from the University of Maryland’s  Centre for International Development and Conflict resolution who tracked and studied the data carefully: “ the general magnitude of global warfare has decreased by over 60% ( since the mid-1980’s) falling by the end of 2004 to the lowest level since the late 1950’s.  Other studies of the data reach a similar conclusion. Harvard’s polymath professor Steven Pinker argues “that we are probably living in the most peaceful time in our species existence.”

One reason why we feel as though we are threatened by non-peaceful events could be related the fact that we are soaked in modern news media cycles, with 24 hour reporting that delivers TV visuals of every tragic event that occurs around the world into our homes almost immediately.

According to Zakaria; “the data reveals a broad trend away from wars among major countries.” All of these events we read and hear about are horrible and sad but in the context of history we are living in a time of unprecedented peace.

We here in the City of Ottawa are blessed to be in a position where we can live and benefit from a very peaceful existence. Thanks to our veterans and of course the soldiers on the front lines today, our way of life is protected, and our peace preserved. We think of all of you, and thank you for your sacrifices as we move into the New Year.

So for New Years I wish for the safe return of our soldiers, and I wish that all of you feel the safety and peace of living in these times.

Enjoy this moment in history – we are blessed to be alive today. Enjoy this peace as you play with your children and walk your dog.  Enjoy this peace as you breathe the crisp air of our Canadian winter. Enjoy the feeling of peace as you celebrate the New Year. We are very lucky people.

Colleen and I wish you a very Happy and Peaceful New Year.