Why?

"Can you give me an idea for an article?" I ask my eight-year-old son Elia. He responds without hesitation: "Write an article about how awful war is?" I think to myself: "Nooo, I really don't have the strength to tackle this topic." I simply want to say: "War sucks, my son!! I really wish it didn't exist!! How many other wonderful and fun things I could write about!! But what do you think?" A brief moment of silence and he says: "War is a useless treasure." A strange silence envelops me! Bravo Elia, that's exactly the point! But how many useful things could man do if he stopped waging war? Anyone with the soul of a child understands this well.

When I was little, I had a photo in my room of an American soldier falling to the ground, hit by a bullet with the words "WHY?" written on it. That "why" has never had a satisfactory answer in me. How wonderful it would be if children could rule the world instead of being its victims. I often think of those individuals who decide wars and send other people's children to die and be killed while sending their own to study abroad. I confess that many times I stop to think about how much harm I would like to do to these people. Not even Hannibal Lecter would have such ideas! But I recognize that this is the war that lives within me, and I too desire someone's death. And this gives rise to another enormous question within me, one that still lacks a satisfactory answer.


Andrea Gotico
NP October 2025