I have heard a great number of people say that peace is a nice idea, but an impossible one. I beg to differ. I believe that world peace is extremely feasible. However, to achieve this, it will take hard work, flexibility, and a great deal of open-mindedness. These three things are in very short supply in this world.

H. Ross Perot once said that "Our country is diseased with just doing enough to get by." I believe this applies to the majority of this world. Patriotism to one's country is a great thing; however, I believe that in order to achieve world peace we need not think of ourselves as citizens of the United States, Japan, the Soviet Union, Iraq, or any other nation, but rather as citizens of one united world.

There are too many problems on this planet for any one country to solve. As single nations, we cannot prevent the ozone layer from completely depleting, nor can we stop the waste of this planet's valuable national resources; however, as a united group of people living on the same planet, we may be able to reverse the wanton destruction of our Earth.

We need to solve disagreements with words and treaties, not with weapons and murder. We need to rid this world of the things that cause us not to think clearly, such as drugs and alcohol. Many people have said that this just can't be done. They say that this generation's druggies won't, but by educating the youth, the next generation will have fewer people addicted to brain-damaging substances, and the generation after that will have even fewer, and the chain will go on, with a domino effect, until alcohol and drugs are virtually obliterated.

If we could just co-operate! By not giving a damn whether your neighbor is black, white or of any sex, race, creed, age or different political party, we can do this. We, today's youth, are the future of this country and we can achieve world peace. n