The International Day for Peace falls on September 21 this year. In preparation for the festivities a group of people on St. Croix joined hands this morning to create a peace sign to be used later next month. The idea behind this event is to recognize those who have worked hard to end conflict and create peace all over the world.
Surprisingly Vision of Humanity has just published a survey of youth living in areas of the world that are not known to be peaceful. These young people, instead of being pessimistic about the low levels of peace in their countries, are optimistic about the future. While only 50% of youth living in more peaceful countries feel optimistic, 86% of youth living in less peaceful countries are optimistic. http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/news/1067
Optimism is apparently 10 times more prevalent around the world than pessimism…so lighten up all you pessimists.
Since 10,000BCE according to the Human Security Report the world has become increasingly more peaceful. Two key reasons being the end of the Cold War and the end of colonialism.
But according to the Global Peace Index peace is on the decline with the world seeing a 5% decrease in peacefulness since 2008.
So which one should we focus on for arguments sake? If we look at the long term picture peace is prevailing…but if we look at the last 6 years peace has deteriorated relatively speaking.
Virtuous cycles of peace include a well functioning government, a sound business environment, an equitable distribution of resources, an acceptance of the rights of others, good relations with neighbors, free flow of information, a high level of human capital and low levels of corruption.
i would add another condition for peace which is the attitudes we all harbor about the acceptability and use of violence. Communities that accept resorting to violence tend to breed more violence. Those that advocate against violence tend to be more peaceful.
"Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name. It is the most effective form of defense spending there is." Kofi Annan
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” Plato
“When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.”
Fred Rogers
“Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.”
Aristotle
“Peace is the only battle worth waging.”
Albert Camus
“If you cannot find peace within yourself, you will never find it anywhere else.”
Marvin Gaye
"Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare.” Pope Francis
See ya next week
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