A Paz é o caminho!

Os alunos do 12.º ano H1 e E, orientados pela Prof.ª Ana Cabaço, a partir da ilustração de Vin Zzep e da citação de Jimi Hendrix :“ When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

At war, love flies away …

Nowadays what moves our society is Money, so our society has become selfish, egotistic and cruel. As a result, a negative perspective of what power should be like has come up to spread anger and grow revolt.

There is a strong connection between the word power and the word money and that is the problem. People want to have power, but this power should be about helping someone, being a caring person, and love others. The power sets people aside, the war keeps us apart and love is the only way to our heart.

Inês Pereira, n.º8, 12.ºE

Unfortunately, I don´t believe the power of love can ever overrule the love of power due to the human instinct Man has of worrying about himself and his own needs before anyone else’s.

Selfishness and greed are part of the human nature, whether we like it or not. Manipulation will always bring the most selfish and greedy people to the top.

Hate is taught, most people don’t develop such a strong feeling of disgust towards other groups of people by themselves, someone tells them to do so.

Even though the power of love can never defeat the love of power, it’s possible to weaken the power of greed and selfishness by teaching people love and healthy societal behaviours from a young age.

Nuno Pinto, n.º 16, 12..ºE

Looking at the image we can see a painting of a grenade with wings. I believe that it is a depiction of the lives that were taken by the war, since you can associate the white wings with angels, name usually given to citizens who died unfairly. The correlation between the image and the sentence is patent, but we can also relate it to the current Europe war and to others occurring all around the globe. The world will not only know peace when we manage our greed, but we will also need knowledge and commitment to make it happen. We, as a society, have given power to individuals unfittable in the field of politics and solemnly connected to their greed and superiority, disregarding the society they are meant to help thrive – so we must take them down the way we lifted them up. Even if the human race is greedy by nature, we must fight and overcome the issue, pushing ourselves not to the narrative of the counterfeit freedom behind war, but to the one we must have known from the beginning – Peace. Raquel Pedroso, n.º21, 12.ºH1

I believe the world can be divided into three emotions: love, fear, and hate. They are antagonistic and yet have been coexisting for as long as we’ve existed.

Fear is the most dangerous one, it’s when we fear something that the worst actions happen. It’s fear that creates hate. Hate of what you don’t know, of what you don’t understand, and of what you don’t relate to. It’s fear that causes war, it’s fear that makes ambition turn to greed, egotism and blindness.

As long as the ones who make our decisions fear each other, they will fight to see who has more power, for the one who does will fear nothing and will be feared by all. There’s no space for love, and friendship and union if we are all fighting to be on top of the chain. And remember, to be feared is only a few steps away from being hated, and when that gets stronger than fear, people will rise. Love and hate can last centuries, power is temporary. Choose how you want to be remembered! Choose love, and stay on the right side of history, choose peace!

Matilde Alves, 12.ºH1, n.º26

As we know by now, the world is filled with people craving for power. A world filled with mean people who have become so addicted to the idea of power that have also turned blind over other things.

They are so willing to show their power that they tear families apart, creating chaos and pain. People suffer and die because of them. People suffer and die over their desires. It’s almost like they become bloodthirsty. As long as the desire of power and greed overcomes the desire to live and love the simple things, there will be war.

Alisa Bekauri, n.º1, 12.°E

War is never a simple matter, as there has always been a multitude of reasons behind it, which extend through time and aren't always disclosed.

More often than not, the wellbeing of the world's population isn't the main driver, but instead the love of power is. However, the ones sent into the battlefield are not those who aspire to wield it, for their dreams are often very different and much like those of the people who live in war-free countries. A teenager in Syria might want to be a doctor just as much as one who lives in Portugal, but unfortunately there is a high chance only the one in Portugal will be able to fulfil it. How is this possible in a world where we are all said to be equal?

Unfortunately, luck determines your ability to pursue your own dreams, or die fighting for someone else’s.

Matilde Nunes, 12.ºE