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The next evening, the breeze was cool and the stars began twinkling early. Mira and Grandfather sat by the old firepit, the glow of the setting sun still warming the earth.

“Grandfather,” Mira said, hugging her knees, “yesterday you said that when one nation tries to dominate another, we need something called a military. How did that start?”

Grandfather smiled and leaned back thoughtfully.

“You see, Mira, in ancient times, people lived in small tribes — little communities like big families. Life was rough. There were no governments, no police, no international laws. To protect themselves from other tribes who might misuse their freedom and attack them, they needed strength.”

He picked up a stick and drew little huts in the dirt, clustered together.

“Families grew large on purpose. The bigger the family, the more men they had to defend their homes and lands. Strength in numbers was their only security.”

Mira traced the huts with her finger.

“So they didn’t have armies back then?”

“Not at first,” Grandfather chuckled. “Defense was everyone’s job. Every member of the tribe was a defender. But as communities grew larger and life became more complicated, people began choosing leaders — strong chiefs and kings — to organize their protection.”

He drew a bigger hut over the small ones.

“Over time, instead of every family fighting separately, tribes and kingdoms formed standing armies. Trained groups whose main job was to defend the people from attacks by others.”

Mira nodded slowly.

“And today, we call them the military.”

“Exactly,” Grandfather smiled.

“The army, the navy, the air force — these are organized ways of defending our collective identity and freedom from being erased by the aggression of others.”

He paused, his eyes thoughtful.

“At the international level, to avoid fighting altogether, nations created the United Nations — a great council where countries try to resolve their differences through dialogue, not war.”

Mira’s eyes lit up. “That’s like a big government for the world!”

“In a way, yes,” said Grandfather. “Especially the Security Council of the UN — it’s meant to act when conflicts arise, to maintain peace.”

But then his face grew a little more serious.

“However, Mira, human nature doesn’t change. The desire to dominate, the misuse of freedom — it’s still there. Sometimes even leaders and politicians use their power wrongly. They manipulate situations, they provoke others, they use things like veto powers unfairly, or start proxy wars by supporting conflicts from behind the scenes.”

He picked up a small stone and set it in the dirt between the huts.

“Sometimes armies are misused not to defend peace but to control or oppress others. And sadly, sometimes armies are even needed to restore peace when nations go too far.”

Mira was quiet for a long time, thinking.

Then she looked up.

“Grandfather… if leaders misuse their freedom, what is their job supposed to be? What is politics, anyway?”

Grandfather laughed warmly.

“Ah, little one, that’s another very big question. And tomorrow, we’ll walk under the stars again and I’ll tell you all about it.”