Peace March painting by Reginald Pollack. Used under CC Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Millions of Americans want peace, and in particular they want a peace that can be achieved peacefully.
In today’s post, we share the voices of some of the hundreds of Americans who responded to the Personal and Institutional Rights to Aggression and Peace survey conducted in over 40 countries by the Group on International Perspectives on Governmental Aggression and Peace (GIPGAP).
Here are their views regarding the best ways to achieve world peace:
- Provide more equality in shares of resources, better understanding and validation of differences in cultures.
- Hold peaceful meetings between many countries in the world, between world officials.
- Put hatred, power, and money aside.
- Ummmm … change people!?! Things like Fair Trade, and equalizing standards of living would certainly help equalize powers.
- Get rid of our values through some form of a cultural revolution.
- Foster strong social relationships, empathetic perspectives, and a sense of responsibility to fellow human beings.
- May god bless you and walk with you during these times. Explore the Zen Philosophy.
- Accept differences and pay attention to others.
- Promote negotiation, discussion, mutual concession.
- Level the playing field to give all countries equal economic, medical, and political opportunity.
- Foster solidarity and mutual help between countries.
- Pick better, nonviolent leaders.
- Promote nonviolent policies and leadership activities to promote nonviolence.
What do you think of these suggestions from fellow American citizens? Their views and hundreds of others will be available in the International Handbook on Peace and Reconciliation, which will be published by Springer Publishing next month.
What additional suggestions can you offer?
Enjoy your holidays and work for peace.
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology
Was there not a glimmer of hope that standards of living will become more equalized with millionaires being required by Congress to part with somewhere near a fair share of their income for the IRS in 2013? When we hear that last year a millionaire paid less in taxes than his secretary, we middle class folks feel like barfing, wondering what loopholes made this coup possible. Tie a firm knot in those loopholes to begin with, then look for other inequities and injustices.
We underestimate the power of the small things. Many of us don’t have the opportunity to create societal changes, and that is OK. However, we can all vow to be a more peaceful individual. This can simply mean being kind and understanding toward everyone, regardless of how others act toward us. It can mean being encouraging and supportive of others. It can also mean not reacting to others. Do not lose your inner sense of peace in reaction to something that is not peaceful. In the end, when you put a lot of peaceful individuals together, it will inevitably create a more peaceful society. I believe that everything begins at the level of the individual.
What a lovely comment, SNH. I agree that we should never underestimate the power of an individual to make a difference. Many people recognize that there have been a number of individuals through the centuries that have changed or shaped history, e.g., Hitler and Stalin on the inhumane side and Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King on the humane side–but I think they often overlook the fact that each one of them can alsos make a positive (or negative) difference. Inner peace is definitely a great place to start making positive changes.
“Put hatred, power, and money aside.”
I think so much could be accomplished if we could all make a conscious effort to do this. Great post.
“Accept differences and pay attention to others.”
I really like this particular suggestion, as it is something we can all do every day. Many different types of violence, maltreatment and abuse are discussed on this blog across many demographics. I’d like to discuss the issue of maltreatment of disabled people in the United States. These are the individuals who need to be paid attention to, for many are unable to effectively communicate their abuse. Rates of abuse among disabled children vary from study to study, but some research suggests that they may be over three times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than children who are not disabled. Other research shows that adult women with disabilities are two times as likely to be victims of all types of maltreatment and possibly much higher rates of intimate partner violence.
Disability alone is considered a risk factor for maltreatment, but there are other factors which only serve to compound the risk. The most obvious one is that our culture still retains many stereotypes, stigmas and discriminatory attitudes towards disabled individuals. Our culture is very focused on individual and economic success, meaning that many disabled people cannot conform to the expectations of our society. Additionally, not all disabled children live in families who can effectively support them. Raising a child with disabilities can be very stressful, especially when a family has limited resources in the community or is living in poverty. Teachers, parents and other professionals need to be extra vigilant in pursuing cases of suspected abuse in disabled children. Research shows that teaching disabled children to “just say no” and to report abuse is ineffective. Thus we absolutely need to pay more attention to disabled children and adults alike if they are unable to advocate for themselves.