Is the Philosophy of Peace the way to go?

*This being my first debate arguement, please forgive any mistakes or unclarities I may provide.

I will begin by stating that this topic is a rather confusing one for me. For weeks I have periodically debated to myself whether or not Ghandi's life was a life well spent or well wasted, in that he was a constant man of peace. No contempt, no hatred, no anger; or at least if he had any, he never showed it. Nothing but kindness to everyone he met, even the whores, liars and whatnot; maybe they just needed someone to show some care towards them. He treated people who spat on him as if they were gods, harboring no desire to bring any harm to them, and many people (noteworthy; Martin Luther King Jr.) have followed this peaceful philosophy.

I've found little if any contradictory to this philosophy. Sure, it goes against basic human principal, but so many have gone past that principal, so why couldn't we look past it to fill out this behavior?

Here's my question: there's always something wrong with something like this, like it's too good to be true, but is it? Can anybody contradict this in any way, or is it actually one of the perfect behavior patterns to take on?

Thank you for starting this debate.

While I believe that the philosophy of peace is a very good philosophy for oneself, it is truly a waste of time on a broader scale. Sure, I may get flack for saying that, but, like any statement I make, I will back it up.

I am interpreting your Resolution to not only apply to one person, but to society as a whole.

Ghandi, King Jr., Mandela, all great people that followed this philosophy. They changed the world, but was it a substantial change? This is something that can be interpreted in many different ways.

I am in no way demeaning what these people did for our society, but I believe this philosophy is not the best choice for society as a whole. It's fine to "Imagine" a calm, peaceful world, but in actuality, that will never happen. It's a sad fact, but we've already seen people have hatred toward the three I mentioned, and many other crusaders like them.

It's impossible for everyone, no, even a majority of people to follow this way. It's just not logical in today's world. For humans to advance, conflicts have to happen. There's no way to hold hands with everyone, and advance further into the world. In some cases, diplomacy is needed, but in others, we have to forgo that, and go to war. It's unavoidable. There will always be conflict in this world, because people just can't get along.

This isn't just limited to a social scale. I am in not shape or form condoning war, but without it, we would be a stagnant species.

War and conflict create competition between countries, making each side push harder. Plato said; "Necessity is the mother of invention,". What could be more necessary to a country then surging forward and building something first, or discovering something first, when they need it to win a war. Even after times of war, these same inventions have been used to for society's benefit. For example:

The same sort of rubber (synthetic) that we use on tires today, was created for use in world war 2, to be put on jeep tires, when America's natural rubber supply was cut off.

Also from World War 2, the German made Heinkel He 178 jet engine (the first one ever), inspired Britain to create a Jet airliner.

Communication has been enhanced because of war, since many advancements in the field had to be made for the armed forces to talk amongst themselves.

These are just a few of the things that came from war, from conflict, from not having this philosophy of peace.

It's a great philosophy, but in the world we live in today, it just wouldn't work. There is still conflict going on, and people follow it don't change a lot at all.

Thank You.

-BBE

Whether or not your first post was just a one and done, I really hope you continue your time here.

To reiterate my main points:

The Philosophy of Peace is a good philosophy, but on an international scale, it is just a dream. The world can't improve if it were a utopia, and everyone's standard of what peace is, is different. There's no way it can be implemented.

Thank You.

I'm very disappointed that this debate didn't get any further then the first round.

Thank You

-BBE