Will war ever truly cease to exist? Or is world peace completely unattainable? As an optimist, my first reaction is to say that yes, ending war is a realistic possibility. Is it really though?
     World peace is a beautiful concept. Any person that I know would love to believe that war could be entirely eliminated from the world; some people even do believe this. Honestly though, there is no way that war could ever be completely eradicated. Although I am at first so tempted to say that world peace is possible, the unfortunate truth is that it is not.

      The main issue that prevents our world from peace is difference. Differences in political views, religious beliefs, etc. These things are the reason that war exists. For example, our country believes in democracy, and this belief was the primary cause of us going to war in Vietnam. Every war or conflict begins due to a difference in opinion of some sort. Unless everyone in our world decides to become the same person, with the same opinions on everything, there is no way to prevent war. In the song "Imagine" by John Lennon, he sings about a perfect, peaceful world.

"Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace..."

Although he sings about world peace, he also mentions that in this world that he imagines, there is:

1.) No countries with different political views/different forms of government.

2.) Nothing to "kill or die for," meaning no source of conflict.

3.) No religion, so no groups of people with differing religious beliefs.

Without the absence of religion, politics, opinions, etc., peace is unfortunately unattainable.

So will war ever truly cease to exist? The answer is no, it will not.