Central oval of James Thornhill’s (1714) “Triumph of Peace and Liberty over Tyranny” on the lower hall ceiling of the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, England; photographed by Roger Stevens in 2009. In the public domain,
It is the best of times. It is the worst of
times. Never before has humanity been endowed with such fantastic
opportunities. Never before has humanity’s survival been so precarious, the
threat of self-extinction looming on the near horizon.
The first step in solving a problem is
recognizing that there is one; and though prophets and sages, assassinated
statesmen and pacifist activists have long issued warnings about the urgent
need for sane and pragmatic reform, their voices have been muted by a perpetual
blizzard of epistemological confetti and jingoistic sloganeering aimed at the
citizen populace by sophistic politicians and mainstream media technocrats
serving the imperial needs of the richest of the rich.
Howard Zinn observed: “The truth is so often the opposite of what we are told that we can no longer turn our heads around far enough to see it.” Noam Chomsky adds the necessary twist: “The problem is not that people don’t know; it’s that they don’t know they don’t know.” Hence the enduring potency of Marx’s maxim: “The demand to abandon illusions about our condition is a demand to abandon the conditions which require illusion.”
America repeats the unlearned lessons of history. Founded on noble ideals undermined by
genocide and slavery, America wraps itself in a cloak of virtue and goes abroad
in search of monsters to destroy, not knowing she is destroying herself. Men at the helm of the ship of state, swollen
with greed and skilled at sophistry, steer civilization toward the abyss. Only the blind can fail to see The Statue of
Liberty weeping for another lost chance for human history to be something other
than ignorance, violence, and ignoble self-betrayal. With all too few
individual exceptions, the difference between the Democratic Party and the
Republican Party is the difference between neurotic and psychotic.
Howard Zinn, noting that the problem is not civil
disobedience, but, rather, all too pervasive obedience, declared: “Our problem
is that people are obedient all over the world, in the face of poverty,
starvation, stupidity, war and cruelty.
Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of
petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the
country.”
Albert Einstein said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” He said further: “Money only appeals to selfishness and always irresistibly tempts its owner to abuse it. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus, or Gandhi with the moneybags of Carnegie?”
James Thurber once offered the parable of a man standing on his cabin porch watching a forest being cut down to provide timber for the building of an asylum in which to house people driven insane by the cutting down of forests.
Note from Kathie MM: Pegean says, “The message here is clear: We cannot rely on either mainstream political party to take us back from the abyss. Stay tuned as Stefan expands further on living in the gratitude, grace, integrity, and activism necessary for peace and social justice.
Let Us Beat Swords Into Plowshares statue at the United Nations Headquarters, New York City.Photograph credit: Rodsan18. In the public domain.
by Kathie MM
As currently envisioned, the U.S. Peace Memorial will consist of twelve walls, or facets, containing engraved peace quotes from famous Americans (including, for example, Noam Chomsky, Martin Luther King Jr., Jeanette Rankin, Margaret Mead, Albert Einstein) as well as lesser-known figures.
Today, for your continuing inspiration, we share some of the quotations under consideration. Embrace them.
“We must devise a system in which Peace is more rewarding than War.”
Margaret Mead (1901-1978).
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”
Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969).
“It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968).
“The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).
“Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought.”
Helen Keller (1880-1968).
“No, I am not going 10,000 miles to help murder kill and burn other people to simply help continue the domination of white slavemasters over dark people …”
Muhammad Ali (1942-2016).
“[t]here was never a good War, or a bad Peace.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).
“I believe that the killing of human beings in a war is no better than common murder.”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955).
“I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.”
Mark Twain, pseudonym for Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910).
“We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.”
Jimmy Carter (1924- ).
“I’m fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”
George S. McGovern (1922-2012).
“How can you make a war on terror, if war itself is terrorism?”
Howard Zinn (1922-2010).
“… all war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal, …”
John Steinbeck (1902-1968).
“… he who is the author of a war, lets loose the whole contagion of hell, and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death.”
The word “disasters” has become much more than a word as humanity becomes aware of the numerous natural, human-made, and human-facilitated disasters in our times. In distant times and in recent past centuries, relative isolation of people and events kept tolls of disasters exacted to more confined people and spaces. These tolls, obviously, were no less destructive in their tragic consequence for people and milieu. Indeed, some distant disasters continue to impact the evolution and survival of life today.
Examples of distant-past natural events include: (1) meteor strikes on extinction of dinosaurs and life forms; (2) Mediterranean earthquakes and Gibraltar-collapse flood; (3) Krakatoa volcanic eruption in Indonesia; (4) Ice Age on human migration and survival; (5) possible shifts in magnetic polarity of Earth’s poles and magnetic field shields.
Examples of human-made events shaping in near century-times include: (1) ancient Egyptian military conquests, (2) Alexander’s conquests, (3) Roman Empire conquests with subjugation of people and exploitation of land; (4) Mongolian conquests of Asia and Europe, and British imperialistic conquests of Asia, Pacific, and Africa.
Human-made disasters have been rooted in wars of imperialistic and empire intent among groups and nations seeking “global” hegemony. The impact of British Empire invasions and conquests remain with us today in the struggles of developing nations seeking to establish an identity and purpose under the burden of colonial occupation.
One of the most egregious legacies of the past continuing today is human slavery and labor exploitation. We may never escape the consequences of WWI and WWII upon our lives and psyches. The past is always with us! Victimhood is a legacy many seek to correct and prevent; many others seek to forget.
Knowledge of the enormous destructive impacts of natural and human-shaped disasters upon animate and inanimate milieus has prompted nations and global consortia to develop organized risk and hazard efforts and tools. These include early warning, appraisal, communication systems, intervention, and prevention efforts. Recognized organizations include the USA’s Department of Homeland Security Disaster Program (Washington, DC) , the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, and the World Health Organization (WHO), in Geneva, Switzerland. There are scores of cooperative agencies engaged in monitoring natural disaster and human-made risks.
Efforts to end human-made wars and violence among and within nations continue. Even optimists, however, cannot deny the continuing horrors of current genocides and destruction and oppression of people the world. Human beings struggling to survive pray for relief and an end to wars and violence; but efforts have proven inadequate to the Brobdingnagian nature of the task. Tragic!
I have taken upon myself the task and responsibility to identify and communicate in graphic and tabular forms examples of natural and human-made disasters. I do so because I believe it is essential we do not deny or ignore the multitude of risks we face. The graphic and tabular formats may be useful in immediate apprehension for teaching or discussion. Knowledge, by itself, is not necessarily prevention or salvation, but it does provide a foundation for grasping the spectrum and sources of the challenges we face.
2. Disasters
A dictionary definition of disasters is in many ways unneeded. We know that a disaster is an event of much destruction and suffering. Nevertheless, a dictionary definition is a shared arbiter of the denotative and connotative meanings of the term. There are many definitions. I like the following from the Webster App:
A sudden calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, or destruction; Broadly: A sudden or great misfortune or failure.
According to the Webster APP, the term was first used 1568, and is derived from the French “desastre,” and Italian “disastro.” I once asked my Sicilian mother about the status of a store bought boxed cake: She said in English: “It is a disaster! Never again!” There are big and small disasters, there are personal and global disasters. In all instances, they are not good!
Consider the lexicon of related disaster terms, many of which have biblical referents: Apocalypse, calamitous, cataclysmic, catastrophe, damaging, debacle, destruction, devastating, dreadful, earth-shattering, lethal, momentous, powerful, ruinous, strong, toxic, and virulent! Simply reading the lexical list is depressing!
As a cultural psychologist, I wondered what terms constitute the lexicon in other languages and cultures. What, for example, would we find in Chinese languages, given the ancient age of this mighty land that has been compelled to withstand natural and man-made disasters for millennia!
Chart 1 is a graphic display of natural disasters. The Chart offers a quick encompassing view of the spectrum of natural disasters. Chart 1 is followed by Table 1 which provides a written listing. Once again, my intent was to help discussion and education activities by having a quick reference to the topic.
Chart 2 is a graphic display of human-made and human-facilitated disasters. The Chart’s contents reveal a tragic compilation of the consequences of human actions upon the species and upon of the natural world. Some have taken to calling humans the super predator. If only animals and nature could speak? Table 2 provides a written summary. Words versus images offer no consolation. The following sections elaborate upon disasters, offering brief commentaries.
CHART 1: EXAMPLES OF NATURAL DISASTERS
TABLE 1: EXAMPLES OF NATURAL DISASTERS (Alphabetical Order)
Wind Storms (Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Typhoons) (Regional and Global)
The human, economic, political, and moral costs of natural disasters is beyond estimation. When a mega-natural disaster occurs, all aspects of human and natural life are implicated, often for decades of recovery. Natural disasters are common-place across the world, even as some are confined to certain areas. Whether an onslaught of natural disasters may deplete and erode government capacities for intervention, and provoke regional and national instability is now a major concern.
There can be no doubt of the massive tolls exacted in death, destruction, and injury. The tragedy of natural disasters is further compounded by the fact natural disasters are frequent in number, severe in consequence, and often repetitive. Human roles in creating natural disasters are now widely known, especially in climate change challenges. Certain regions are subject to continual disasters and erosion of recovery resources. The Philippines is an example of this situation.
Human-Made and Human-Facilitated Disasters
The growing number of human-made and human-aided disasters is humbling and frightening. Human stewardship of life in all its forms is proving to be a disaster in itself. I am reminded here of the popular Pogo cartoon: “We have met the enemy, and it is us.” True words!
Even as we question why humans continue to engage in self-destructive acts, we are perplexed by the paradoxes. We look to leaders, but amid their corruption, cronyism, and selfish concerns, solutions appear impossible. A massive financial effort is needed; more importantly, however, there is a need for a new consciousness; humanity is part of nature, not its ruler!
The time-honored motivation of pursuing wealth, power, and position for a few to the exclusion of the welfare of the masses has become the norm. Tragic! “When will we ever learn?” These are folk song lyrics filled with the grief and sorrow of failures to learn form our actions.
CHART 2: EXAMPLES OF HUMAN-MADE DISASTERS
Even as I write these words, I find myself concerned about humanity’s future. It is not only humanity’s survival, adaptation, and adjustment as we think of it in conventional terms it is about the extensive reliance on artificial intelligence (AI), and especially the unbridled use of AI in developing robotics. The combination of AI and robotics is challenging our basic assumptions of human nature (i.e. ontology). At some point, AI creations will surpass human capabilities and talents (i.e., singularity). What then? Will this be another human-made disaster? I called this “Relinguishing Human Identity,” in a chapter on unfolding evolution via bio-metric communication technologies (see Marsella, A.J. (2016). Gatherings:” A collection of writing genre. Alpharetta, GA: Mountain Arbor Press). Think drones! Think cloning! Think dehumanization! Think dystopia!
TABLE 2 EXAMPLES OF HUMAN-MADE AND HUMAN-AIDED DISASTERS (Alphabetical Order)
Desertification of Arable Land (Sahara)
Fracking (Destruction of Potable Water, Earthquakes)
Structure Collapse: Buildings, Bridges (Bangladesh, India, USA)
Terrorist Attacks
Toxic Chemicals (Agent Orange, Vietnam)
Wars (Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan)
And So . . . ?
What can do we do? The challenges we face are enormous in proportion and consequence. The human, natural world, physical world costs exceed imagination. And yet we continue! Is iit possible to use education to address these challenges? Not traditional education mired in skill sets and memorization, but rather the introduction of visionary thoughts and knowledge. Imagine all college students having to begin their education by exposure in the first years to “Big History,” overviews of major history events and forces, including the ideologies and malicious forces that guide and nurture them.
Imagine elementary school children in the third grade exposed to the critical social, economic, and political events and forces shaping their lives so they do not become numb to the events and forces. The intent is a new consciousness. This is what the famous Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, proposed in his critical pedagogy: Critical consciousness! In English “Conscientization; in Portuguese, “conscientizacao.” Education is not neutral. (See Wikepedia and Paulo Friere (1997), Pedagogy of the Oppressed (NY: Continuum Publishing). If education serves those in power, it is indoctrination! Is critical pedagogy any less important than fractions or grammar?
If we are to survive the onslaught of disasters, we will need to think in a more activist way, and to grasp the consequences of our choices. We must not socialize conformity to our existing world, but rather arouse awareness and encourage protests toward our failures.
Albert Einstein, advised: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them” Albert Einstein is no longer with us, but his words remain, and demand attention. Anything less … a disaster!
Author: Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822. He is the author and editor of twenty books, and more than 300 publications noted for challenging the ethnocentricity and biases of Western psychology and psychiatry, and for advocating peace and social justice.
One of the greatest tolls of war is the cost to our future incurred by killing and maiming babies, small children, and youth. They are not just collateral damage.
Among the thousands of civilians who have been killed or maimed in the Afghanistan war, children are the most innocent. Apart from death and injury, though, here are some additional ways that children are impacted, as described in a United Nations report:
Taliban and other factions have recruited children for military training, to conduct suicide attacks, transport weapons and plant explosives.
National Security Forces have detained children for alleged national security crimes
Afghan National Police have used children as drivers, messengers, and at checkpoints
Schools and medical facilities have been damaged, causing disproportional impacts on children
Tragically, the devastating effects of war on children do not end when a ceasefire begins or a treaty is signed. Think of how your sons and daughters would be affected if they were forced to be soldiers, forced to kill, forced into prostitution, forced to wait and see where the next bomb would fall.
Think about your children growing up in a country in which there are thousands of unexploded landmines and other explosive devices, a country in which you or they could be killed or maimed for one wrong step. Imagine your children growing up with birth defects and widespread pollution from Agent Orange.
Albert Einstein said, “The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
What are some things that YOU can do to help prevent wars and protect those children who are victims of the ravages of war?
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology, and Pat Daniel, Managing Editor of Engaging Peace
