Publication Date: July, 2021
Location: PoetCrit out of New Delhi, available here.
Genesis: Every now and again, I come across a study that finds just how safe a world we live in. Yes, I know this flies in the face of the fear-inducing media world in which we now live, but the data supports the fact that, globally, our chances of living out a long life, free from the threat of being killed in wars or other forms of attack, have rarely been better.
I just wanted to celebrate this…
The prevailing paradigm Says that military spending Is too low. The dominant discourse Tells us NATO subscriptions Are too slow. All the terrorist threats And the nuclear side-bets We’re encouraged to fret – Is our defensive safety net Good to go? And yet. And yet… All around the world, In 2002, Fifty seven million people Breathed their last And expired. Permanently retired Through accident, old age Disease and bad luck. Fifty seven million people Of whom 172,000 – A little more than point three of one percent – Died as a result of war. In the same year, in 2002, The world spent over a trillion dollars On arms and defence. On arms and defence. On the tragic pretence That this makes the world A safer place. Yet peace is already upon us.