The Effect of Pride

I believe that pride is the number one obstacle preventing peace worldwide. I believe that a lot of the violence going on in the world is caused because of the pride people take in the group they are a part of. Some examples can be groups such as gangs, religious groups, groups based on their race, political groups and many more. A great example I can mention is the Violence going on in the city of Juarez. The drug cartels are literally taking over this city and the root of the problem is that the different cartels are competing against each other. Each believe that their group is better than the other and they are going to the extreme to prove it to one another.  At first they began showing it to each other by killing members of each others’ groups but now they have gotten to the point where they are killing innocent people as well. The cartels show that they are proud of what they are doing, or what group they are representing  by leaving certain clues in the crime scenes where they have committed one or several  murders.  The sad part of the situation Juarez is that not even the authorities can control what is going on. A few years ago they even called the military to help with the major problem but it didn’t make a difference, the violence quickly escalated to a point of no control. It is even said that the police is even a part of what is going on.  What they don’t understand is that at the rate they are going, they will eventually run out of people to murder and what will they do next? The best thing one of the sides can do is back down or the city they “run” will be completely destroyed.  But for now, Juarez will continue to be named the most dangerous city in the world.

 Although the violence in Juarez is the one I feel I relate to the most because it is happening so close to me. I am aware that there are so many other situations in which pride plays a major role in the reason why people are not at peace.  Another example would be in domestic violence. So many men and women are victims of domestic violence world wide.  In my family, my grandmother was a victim of domestic abuse for so many years and she set the blame on my grandfathers pride. She believed that my grandfather was very much capable of being a loving husband and father but he began hanging around a group of men who bossed around their wives, so he began to do it as well. His wall never again came down and he got more and more prideful as years passed. Luckily my grandmother got the courage to file for divorce and contact the authorities for her protection.  A lot of victims are not as lucky and some even end up dead.

                 Another great example of why pride gets in the way of peace in the world is with gangs. Driving just a few blocks down the street you can find graffiti written by gangsters to represent what crew they are with. I have seen my share of fights between gang members and at the end of the day; they say it was done because one or the other had insulted the other gang. And the thing is that a lot of the time, members are supposed to prove their pride for their gang by acts of violence. Some of the major gangs even require an initiation that will risk their life or those of others. The amount of pride only increases as the desire for power does as well. Sad thing is that the competition is only getting worse and worse and people even fear that the violence from Mexico will transfer into the U.S.

                At this point I believe that the issue of violence cannot be resolved unless the government sets a good example for society to follow. The government is always talking about promoting peace in the world, but they don’t even realize that they have their own problems depending on which political party they are representing. I believe that if people in higher power start showing peace among everyone and the country really dedicates itself to promote peace, a dramatic change in our society will be made. Even as children, parents begin socializing their kid’s to become part of a certain group and dislike others. I see this happening a lot, whether it’s with sports or in political views, kids are being taught by their parents. If we truly want peace in the world, people need to swallow their pride and admit that there is always going to be someone trying to cause problems, but instead of giving into them, we need to help them out and show everything is better when there is peace.