World Peace, Anyone?

In a scene from Miss Congeniality (2000), Gracie Hart, played by Sandra Bullock, is an undercover FBI agent who joined the Miss USA beauty pageant to catch a serial killer. Here goes the Q&A portion of the contest:

Stan (Emcee): What is the one most important thing our society needs?
Gracie Hart: That would be… harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.
[crowd is silent]
Gracie Hart: And world peace!
[crowd cheers ecstatically]

World peace may be a stereotype answer in beauty contests, but this is exactly what we need in the face of today’s self-absorbed societies.

At a recent karaoke session with friends, we were struck by a melodic and very meaningful song of the Isley Brothers in 1976. How appropriate that the song mentions greed and the unbridled search for gain amidst other countries’ sufferings and the strain placed on Mother Earth.

Harvest for the World
Written and recorded by Isley Brothers, 1976

All babies together
Every one a seed
Half of us are satisfied, half of us in need
Love’s bountiful in us
Tarnished by our greed
When will there be a harvest for the world?

When will there be
I wanna know now baby
Half a nation planted
So concerned with gain
As the seasons come and go
Greater grows the pain
Far to many
Are feeling much strain
When will there be a harvest for the world?
So, when will there be
I wanna know now baby

Gather every man
And gather every woman
Celebrate your lives
And give thanks to our children
Gather every one
Gather all together
All together
Overlooking none (2x)
Hoping life gets better
For the world

So dress me up for battle
When all I want is peace
Those of us will pay the price
I come home with the least
And nation after nation
Are turning into beasts
When will there be a harvest for the world?