THE END OF ALL WARS
Stories 1-60
The end of all wars
//1
The horrors my ancestors inflicted
Hans drummed his pen on the notepad, frowning.
He needed to do this. He needed to be very clear about this. They all had to, or wars would never end.
Hans inhaled and began to write.
I don’t bend my knee to anyone. Ever.
But I do bend my knee in recognition of the horrors my ancestors inflicted on this planet.
Holy wars
Colonial genocide
Colonial land robbery
Colonial exploitation
Colonial slavery
Slavery
In-fighting & exploiting kings and other aristocrats
and two world wars.
My ancestors inflamed the planet — twice.
And nations are still suffering the consequences.
In order to move forward,
I bend my knee
acknowledging the devastations
my ancestors brought to this planet and its people.
I am still proud.
I still have a lot to learn.
But I am ready to do
whatever it takes
to end all wars.
In order to move forward
I look back
I recognise
The millions of lives
my ancestors deprived
of everything.
In order to move forward
I don’t ask for forgiveness
I take a step
towards building a world
that has rid itself of wars
that finally learns
to come together
to grief the past atrocities
to weep together
to come together
to build
and shape
together.
@Charlie Alice Raya, stories marathon, The end of all wars, 8 May 2025
The end of all wars
//2
Narratives!
‘Narratives! It all comes down to the narratives we have internalised,’ Julie said.
‘Can we externalise them?’ Josie asked.
Julie chuckled. ‘Maybe we could exorcise them.’
Laughing, Josie did a little dance around an imaginary fire, calling on the powers of the universe. ‘Oh, universe. Hear my call. We are so screwed and we keep screwing up. Our planet is dying and we have nothing better to do than to go to war with our fellow humans. Oh, dear, dear, universe, could you help us to exorcise all the nonsense in our heads?’
Julie laughed.
And the universe opened a sleepy eye, frowning.
@Charlie Alice Raya, stories marathon, The end of all wars, 8 May 2025
The end of all wars
//3
WHAT I WANT TO FIGHT FOR
‘I tell you, we have prepare for war!’
‘Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t want to.’
‘You’d rather walk blindly into the catastrophe?’
‘I’d rather— I’d rather we put our energy in finding and preparing non-violent responses. War is always destruction. Weapons are always destructive.’
‘Alright. Let’s do both then. We build up enough fire power to withstand an attack. And we put as much energy into exploring non-violent responses.’
‘I don’t know. So long as we regard weapons as an option, we will always slip back into war.’
‘Hm.’
‘I want to fight for an end of all wars, not for military dominance. Dominance is a form of destruction. There is no sense in destruction. We only have this one planet.’‘I tell you, we have prepare for war!’
‘Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t want to.’
‘You’d rather walk blindly into the catastrophe?’
‘I’d rather— I’d rather we put our energy in finding and preparing non-violent responses. War is always destruction. Weapons are always destructive.’
‘Alright. Let’s do both then. We build up enough fire power to withstand an attack. And we put as much energy into exploring non-violent responses.’
‘I don’t know. So long as we regard weapons as an option, we will always slip back into war.’
‘Hm.’
‘I want to fight for an end of all wars, not for military dominance. Dominance is a form of destruction. There is no sense in destruction. We only have this one planet.’
@Charlie Alice Raya, stories marathon, The end of all wars, 8 May 2025
The end of all wars
//4
The soldier
‘What are you doing?’
‘Gearing up.’
‘You just took off you weapons and ammunition. And you’re stuffing your pockets with cookies and apples.’
‘Exactly.’
‘We are at war! We have to defend our people.’
‘We have to protect them. I swore to protect them. And they are hungry. Tired of this needless war. I’ll bring them food. I’ll shield them. But I’m done killing on some mad-person’s orders, for some mad-person’s fantasies. I’m done pretending that this or any war is justified.’
@Charlie Alice Raya, stories marathon, The end of all wars, 8 May 2025
The end of all wars
//5 Israel
Joseph wept.
When he had calmed down, he read Emil’s letter again.
Dear Israel,
I cannot begin to understand the depth of your trauma,
the terror your people faced
because of my ancestors.
But I beg you
I beg you
to break the cycle of violence.
You have suffered a genocide.
Please, don’t continue
to do the same
to the people of Palestine.
Please, remember your own suffering.
Please, put an end to the atrocities.
Please, find the humanity
my ancestors took from you.
Please, break the cycle.
No one has a right
to kill anyone.
We are all
people of this planet.
We are fellow humans.
We have inflicted enough horrors.
We can break the cycle.
We can build a world
with and for all of us.
@Charlie Alice Raya, stories marathon, The end of all wars, 8 May 2025
The end of all wars
//6 Palestine
‘We disappear and the world watches silently.’
‘We will survive!’
‘But how? And in this rubble.’
‘By being better than our leaders.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘What if we marched with the Israelis?’
‘Never!’
‘Think about it. They are unhappy with their leaders. I am unhappy with our leaders. Our leaders have failed us. Our leaders got us into this. And not just they, international meddlers, too. But we are the people. We are the majority. What if we found the Israelis who also say: Enough is enough!? What if we met. What if I took the hand of an Israeli and you, too. What if we marched hand in hand. A silent protest. A silent demonstration that we are fellow humans. That we can break bread. That we can find a way. That we are fed up with the devastating scheming of the people who call themselves our leaders and only bring death and devastation.’
@Charlie Alice Raya, stories marathon, The end of all wars, 8 May 2025
The end of all wars
//7 We need war
‘We need war.’
‘Bollocks!’
‘But we do. How else could our incompetent leaders distract us from their failures. War unites. War keeps people busy. War polarises. War even instills a desire to have a leader.’
Casey sighed. ‘Damn. We need new leaders.’
Alex snorted. ‘Yeah, that would be a start. We also need people who are prepared to be led, not just into wars but into rethinking pretty much everything.’
‘Hm. If you got the chance for a rethink, where would you start?’
‘We are too much in a mess to only start at a single point. On the other hand, we are enough people to have different groups start at different points.’
‘OK. So, where would your groups start. Disarmament?’
‘One of them, we can make use of the raw materials. Another group would focus on restoring our natural world, another would focus on restoring communities, another would prepare a new economic system—’
‘—a what?’
‘An economic system which replaces the present one. There is no need for a radical switch. We can run them parallel for a bit. Wars will only end if we rethink how we deal with each other and with our planet.’
@Charlie Alice Raya, stories marathon, The end of all wars, 8 May 2025
As published on Bluesky
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The end of all wars
