"...'Bout a kingdom, on a mountain
And the valley folk below
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore
They'd have it for their very own
... ... ...
And they killed the mountain people
So they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turn the stone and which beneath it
"Peace on Earth," was all it said."
For some strange reasons, the lyrics of this 1970's song got stuck in my head all these years. I was singing the song while doing other household tasks in the past week. I pondered about the lyrics which might sound too improbable at first. Later I could see that the fictional lyrics was actually a parody of what happened in real life.
Greed is obviously the motivation of the valley people to kill the mountain people and claim the treasure as their own. What if these valley people investigate the rumour first, would that war still happen? Why would the valley people believe that they deserve to possess the treasure buried in the mountain, especially after killing the rightful owners?
Seventy years ago today (August 15th, 1945), Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Forces. It was just nine days after USA had dropped a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, For many years, Japanese troops invaded China and Korea mainly because of the resources and farm land in these countries. The Chinese and Koreans were already "sharing" their wealth with their neighbour, Japan. Yet the slaughter continued as if the Japanese appetite could never be satisfied.
The more recent example would be the American troops were being sent to Iran and Iraq to locate nuclear weapons. Perhaps these deployments could be avoided if the countries have better communications and developed trust in each other. The victims of these actions as a result of this subjective reality were in fact the citizens of both the invading and invaded countries. Just like the long lasting Palestinian/Jewish conflicts over the Holy Land, "Peace on Earth" could only be attained when the involved parties put aside their prejudice and let the tin soldier ride away.
And the valley folk below
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath a stone
And the valley people swore
They'd have it for their very own
... ... ...
And they killed the mountain people
So they won their just reward
Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain dark and red
Turn the stone and which beneath it
"Peace on Earth," was all it said."
For some strange reasons, the lyrics of this 1970's song got stuck in my head all these years. I was singing the song while doing other household tasks in the past week. I pondered about the lyrics which might sound too improbable at first. Later I could see that the fictional lyrics was actually a parody of what happened in real life.
Greed is obviously the motivation of the valley people to kill the mountain people and claim the treasure as their own. What if these valley people investigate the rumour first, would that war still happen? Why would the valley people believe that they deserve to possess the treasure buried in the mountain, especially after killing the rightful owners?
Seventy years ago today (August 15th, 1945), Japan announced its surrender to the Allied Forces. It was just nine days after USA had dropped a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, For many years, Japanese troops invaded China and Korea mainly because of the resources and farm land in these countries. The Chinese and Koreans were already "sharing" their wealth with their neighbour, Japan. Yet the slaughter continued as if the Japanese appetite could never be satisfied.
The more recent example would be the American troops were being sent to Iran and Iraq to locate nuclear weapons. Perhaps these deployments could be avoided if the countries have better communications and developed trust in each other. The victims of these actions as a result of this subjective reality were in fact the citizens of both the invading and invaded countries. Just like the long lasting Palestinian/Jewish conflicts over the Holy Land, "Peace on Earth" could only be attained when the involved parties put aside their prejudice and let the tin soldier ride away.
