Alexander Gerst has been observing the violence in Gaza from a distance – a distance of 205 miles. The German Astronaut, who is currently aboard the International Space Station, sent out a tweet yesterday describing what he called “my saddest photo yet.”

How strange – and depressing – it is that a human who has actually travelled to space through the wonders of science and technology and human progress and innovation is sitting out there right now witnessing his fellow humans blowing each other up with bombs and missiles over border disputes and ancient religious differences.

The International Space Station is proof that it is possible for us to work together and achieve great things as humans. And the dead bodies piling up in Gaza – and in a hundred other places around the world – is proof that we still have a long way to go.

Humans are obviously capable of great accomplishments and wonderful acts of kindness, and although I’m not overly optimistic at this moment, I do hope that one day we will come to realize that slaughtering each other with machine guns and explosives is not the most productive way to resolve our disputes. And that the money we spend and the technology that we use to build our bombs and missiles and fighter jets would be put to better use feeding the world, educating ourselves, protecting our environment and exploring our galaxy.

Author: Nick Allison is just a banged-up Army Infantry vet of the War in Iraq. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife, their children and two big, dumb, ugly mongrel dogs. Don’t take anything he says too seriously… he’s just trying to figure out this ride we call existence like everyone else. Also, he enjoys writing his own bio in third-person because it probably makes him feel more important.

Please feel free to send your love letters and hate mail to nick.chaossection@gmail.com.