The desire to eliminate all your enemies can seem like a simple solution to a complex problem. After all, if they’re gone, there’s no one left to stand in your way, right? But take a moment to think about it. What happens when you kill all your enemies? Does peace finally arrive? Do you finally win?

History tells us something quite different. It tells us that in trying to destroy all your enemies, you plant the seeds for future conflict. You create more enemies—perhaps not for yourself, but for your children, for future generations who inherit the bitter fruits of your choices.

Wars have ravaged our world for centuries. Great empires have risen and fallen on the backs of bloodshed, often without learning that killing off your enemies only prolongs the agony. Instead of a fresh start, you’re left with an endless cycle, a revolving door of violence, hatred, and vengeance. And once you start down this path, it becomes harder and harder to turn back.

Look at the conflicts that have stretched on for years, decades, even centuries—people fighting because their fathers, and their fathers’ fathers, fought before them. The same grudges passed down like family heirlooms. Generations of anger, of children growing up to hate the enemies of their parents, never questioning why the fight even started.

And what happens when the enemies become too many? What happens when their numbers grow faster than you can destroy them? Eventually, you’ll be overwhelmed, and the cycle will continue with more casualties, more ruined lives, more innocent blood spilled in the name of a war you once thought was righteous.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Do you have the courage to break the cycle? Are you bold enough, strong enough, to make peace with your enemies today, so that you plant seeds for friendship tomorrow? Peace is not the easy road—it’s often far more difficult than war. War is brutal, but simple. Peace requires humility. It requires bravery, not the kind that wields a sword or fires a gun, but the kind that extends a hand instead.

History, too, shows us that even the fiercest enemies can become allies. Consider the peace between the U.S. and Japan, two nations once locked in devastating warfare, now partners in global trade and diplomacy. Look at France and Germany, who tore each other apart during two world wars but now stand side by side in the European Union. Enemies can become friends if we have the strength to stop the fighting.

So, what will you choose? Will you feed the cycle of vengeance and create more enemies for tomorrow, or will you choose the path that leads to peace, however difficult? The choice is yours to make today, but its impact will be felt for generations.

The real question is—aren’t you somebody’s enemy? What happens when they come for you? Will there be an end in sight, or will you be trapped in a war no one can ever truly win?

Danny Ballan
Editor-in-Chief
English Plus Magazine