Often
in the face of huge social problems, we can feel very helpless. We may feel
that there are others who are much better placed to find solutions than we are.
In
fact the world can be changed by quite small groups of people, or even by
individuals (if those individuals are reflecting a feeling shared by others).
There are large numbers of people already active in promoting peace in various
ways. Further support will add to the momentum.
Here
are a few suggestions about what we can do as individuals.
Question the idea that war is
inevitable
Just
accepting the idea that it might be possible to end war is a great step
forward.
• Discuss the issue with our friends and
colleagues and (if the opportunity arises) in the media.
Work locally
Start
in our own backyard. Almost everyone who wants to can have an influence on her
or his own local government.
• Lobby for gun-free areas (for example that
the local council does not engage armed security guards).
• Encourage our local council to support
programs for reconciliation, anti-harassment, rehabilitation of offenders and
so on.
• Urge our schools and education authorities to
introduce peace education and related subjects.
Join peace organisations
There
are many admirable organisations working at ending war. Some will have local
branches.
Guns in the community
Campaign for good firearm control and for the replacement of
the guns carried by police and security guards with non-lethal weapons.
Spiritual approaches
A
significant number of people believe that lasting world peace can only be
achieved when there is sufficient inner peace amongst individuals. Whether these beliefs are true or not is beyond the scope of this
book, but peaceful people will obviously make a significant contribution to
developing a culture of peace.
Political Action
Working
at a local level will be very powerful. If we want to widen our activities:
·
We can lobby our regional and then national politicians to
initiate reform of the defence forces. On the international level we can
support the United Nations and campaign for its reform.
·
We can also support properly designed international aid
programs to improve equity in the world.
In
summary, here are some of the steps that we, as a world community, need to take
to tame war:
·
Study the origins of war
War is much older than humans. We must continue to
explore why and how it has permeated our biology and our culture.
·
Study what drives humans
to make war
We need to analyse and understand the powerful drives
that, to date, have ensured our survival, but which also propel us into
warfare.
·
Design a scientific
strategy for peace
We have to treat war objectively and without moral
judgement, just as we would treat a disease. By doing this we can design a
rational effective plan for dealing with war, based on fact and not emotion.
·
Use non-lethal weapons to
limit the damage
Armed conflict is likely to be with
us for a while at least. If we can use non-lethal weaponry to repel or
constrain aggressors, we may be able to minimise immediate pain and grief and
also reduce the long-term risk of revenge. We can start by using non-lethal
weapons in United Nations peacekeeping.
·
Control guns domestically
We need to greatly reduce the number of firearms in
the community, except those used for sport shooting. We also need to give our
police officers non-lethal protection instead of handguns.
·
Increase United Nations
peacekeeping
UN peacekeepers play a very
important role in preventing conflicts and in halting and resolving those that
start. We need to give peacekeepers much better support.
·
Redirect the military
into community work
While for the moment supporting
their role in defence, we need to change the military into becoming for the
most part community workers.
·
Create useful challenges
to satisfy aggressive drives
Society already redirects our
competitive aggressive war-making drives into such activities as commerce,
sport and adventure. We need to deliberately increase this involvement,
concentrating particularly on designing challenging experiences for all our
young people. There are many needs in the world such as reducing poverty,
arresting global warming and repairing the environment, which can provide any
amount of challenge.
·
Share satisfying
employment
Unemployment is dispiriting and
disempowering as well as being a factor in social unrest. Repetitive mindless
jobs can dull the senses as well as wasting skills. We need to share employment
opportunities across the community. In addition, we need to share the tedious
and unpleasant tasks that have to be done.
·
Develop a culture of
peace
Because war has been so central to
human existence, our culture is very much imbued with the symbols and language
of war. While honouring the warriors of the past, from now on we need to
develop a culture which expresses a non-violent approach to life. This will
include strong support for human rights and ending capital punishment.
·
Better manage our
political leadership
We need to improve the way we select
and manage our political leaders so that we are less at the mercy of
psychopathic, incompetent or just misguided individuals.
·
Reform the United Nations
The United Nations needs
strengthening and supporting, but it also needs reform. We must establish a more democratic governance which is not so controlled and manipulated
by the Great Powers. At the same time we must ensure that the UN bureaucracy becomes
more efficient, effective and accountable.
·
Eliminate nuclear weapons
There must be no more proliferation
of nuclear weapons. Those nations possessing nuclear weapons must together
start progressively to dismantle and destroy their weapons until no more remain.
·
Reduce world poverty
We must keep to the commitment of
Making Poverty History (which aims at halving world poverty by 2015). We must
aim to eliminate world poverty as soon as possible after that date.
·
Improve the world
environment
We must work together to improve the
environment, reducing carbon emissions and arresting global warming. Our
long-term goal must be of world-wide sustainable development.
·
Promote world citizenship
We need to promote the concept of world
citizenship. We have to encourage the
development of democratic structures which transcend national boundaries.
·
Break up super powers
into smaller states
We must gradually, peacefully and
naturally dismantle our super powers into smaller more equal-sized states, so
that there is consistent representation and responsibility around the globe.
·
Establish a World
Parliament
Finally, we need to establish a world parliament.
This parliament would not enforce conformity and blandness. In contrast, it
would support the diversity and self-determination of individuals and of small
communities. Indeed its main role would be to protect individuals and
communities from being damaged or destroyed by what at present we call
sovereign nations. As one ‘sovereign nation of the world' we
would have no excuse to go to war with anyone.