Conflict and Reconciliation Essay Example for Free

Conflict and Reconciliation Essay A state primarily consists of three vital things, without which a state would no longer be called a state. These three things namely people, territory and government. The three of them are dependent and interdependent on each other. It is difficult to have them separated and be considered as the sole cause of a problem. The territory is not in our hands, this is the land that we got after independence. The government is what runs the country, but, there is nothing that we, citizens can do. All we get to do is elect a representative party of the government every four years. And lastly, we have the people of the country. This is yet another vital component of a state. Without this, a state would be a deserted piece of land. (Muller, 2005) There have been instances where the so-called people of the land are not one. In fact, there have been conflicts between the people. Well, there are a lot of conflicts. But it is never the conflict that is harmful, it is never the clash of ideas that breaks the country, but the behavior of the conflict is what drives people away from being one. Once there is a rift between them, there is no going back. It is difficult to bring the people out from their then built in schemas. After a conflict which has taken out peace form one sect of the country, it is difficult to have them stop stereotyping the other one. There is a key word that I have used in the previous sentence. The word sect caught my attention as soon as I was done writing the sentence. I ask myself, is our country divided into sects? Is that what is causing the conflict? Is it the cause of the rifts that take place every day? Is it the cause of the grudges built in people? Is this what makes them stereotype others that are not in their sect? Well, after hours of pondering, I say yes. This is why we are not one. This is exactly why we can not have a civil discussion among people of different sects without having any clash of ideas. The division of sects in the country is the very reason of as to why we give the term â€Å"Many Americas† to this country. Let’s consider a couple of examples that might invoke us and might bring us to a conclusion that the division of people into sects is not the only cause of the so-called â€Å"Many Americas†. There is no doubt that we have different communities in this country. Well, every nation does, it is not like our nation is different from the rest. It is just that we do not have to over look the priorities and the benefits of the sects that are small in number. It is human nature to consider the things that are obvious and are right in front of us. Although it is not right not to consider the sects that are in minority. Lets take an example of the people contemporarily living in the country. We have a lot of Indians present, some are working, some are studying and some are living as illegal immigrants. In fact a lot of them are living as illegal immigrants. Definitely, the clash of ideas and compromise has to be there. Without compromise, the clash of ideas between them, will grow and will soon develop into huge unsolved rifts. This is just one trivial example. Just to mention that I am not considering the illegal immigrants, who are staying in the country because they want to and not because they can stay? Their story is pretty different. If they can not be hired for any job because they do not hold a passport or a green card or hold a long expired visa – well, they are to blame. There are different cultures, different religions, different races, cultures, beliefs, doctrines, creed, color. There is so much that has been separating us. This is what people usually say. I do not second their notion. It is highly incorrect for them to say that if some one is in the minority, they do not belong to this nation. If some one has a different skin color than me, they are just different. Well, I say such people are nothing but shallow. There is not much that we can do to make them turn around and understand that although there are people of different doctrines living in the same piece of land as us, but they are still Americans, they are still a part of us. Just telling them that they are wrong is not going to change any thing. The schemas that people develop and stick to the fore front of the minds of the people, do not just develop in a day. It takes a lot of years to develop them and it takes just seconds to make them even worst. By this I mean that it is difficult to drive the schemas out, however, it is not difficult to build upon them. It is easier said than done. Many Americas is not many, its just one. It’s a matter of perception. Let’s take a trivial yet crucial example of the positive instances never being counted or accounted for. I was with my friends at the beach. The Indians at school are known for stealing trinkets from the kids at school. My friend’s watch got stolen from our spot. We were all worried and the first thing that she did was point â€Å"I† for stealing it. Lets take â€Å"I† as the Indian girl who was blamed. Just because she was around our spot at the beach does not necessarily mean that she stole it. Well, she was embarrassed and humiliated in front of all the kids there. It was a school trip so all the kids from school were there. Her entire bag was toppled; all the things inside it were forcibly thrown out of it. I tried to stop my friend but, she would just not let it go; it was an expensive watch. Well, at the end we found out that some one’s dog took it. But the point of the entire story is that she did not do it. Even after the incident, they all still blamed the Indians for taking away things ever time something got lost. It is not a matter to be proud of. We are all one. We are all one nation. It is ok to share the same piece of land with some one who is a little different from us. Although this was just one example, there are many others that I will be mentioning about in the final paper. The entire point of this rough draft is that no matter how different one may be, we are all living and sharing the same piece of land. The belief that this is my land more that it is yours just because there are more people like me on this land than you; this idea is to be driven out of our heads as soon as we can before matters worsen. There is not much that we can do to make them forget the existing schemas and understand that although there are people of different doctrines and beliefs, living in the same piece of land we are, but they are still Americans, just like us and they are still a part of us. We all together make this nation. It is not just one sect or two, it is many Americas that make this beautiful, peaceful country, our country. And just telling those people that they are wrong is not going to change any thing. The schemas that people develop and stick to the fore front of the minds of the people, do not just develop in a day. It takes a lot of years to develop them and it takes just seconds to make them even worst. By this I mean that it is difficult to drive the schemas out, however, it is not difficult to build upon them. Hence, we are altogether one nation no matter how many creeds and sects our nation has. \ Reference: David J. Whittaker, Conflict and Reconciliation in the Contemporary World Gilbert H. Muller, Many Americas Reading and Writing across the Cultural Divides