Culture of Peace Initiative
Peace Practices - Peace Day September 21
The Culture of Peace Initiative (CPI) is a UN-designated "Peace Messenger Initiative" with participants in all the world's regions. Its purpose is to unite the strengths of organizations and individuals who are working to make Peace a practical reality. The highlight of the Initiative is International Day of Peace (Peace Day), which is celebrated ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Sep 14, 2007
Updated: Nov 21, 2009
Membership: Open
Public
Topic: Peacebuilding Solutions
Posts (1 - 12 of 12)
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From the Peace Alliance's Community Conferencing page, found a great list of Restorative Justice cases from the International Institute for Restorative Practices.
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Hi MichaelK,
Thanks for the invitation!
In order to build peace, you must target the source for not having peace and not just address the symptoms, which would most likely be self defeating in the long run.
The present monetary-capitalist system constantly puts more and more weath and power in increasingly fewer hands. This makes it where hundreds of millions of people must live on less than $1 a day--and must often work hard or fight just for that--while other people have billions of dollars and don't have to work a day of their life. The rich make money on money; the poor have to pay for money--all brought to you by the Establishment-sustaining sin called interest. You make 5% on $1M, that's $50k/yr you get for nothing. You are poor and you owe on your credit card or need to borrow; you're in a financial hole that becomes increasingly difficult to get out from under.
Worse, financial concentrations leads to corruption of government. Campaign contributions are just legalized bribery and corruption; we are seeing the results: torture, The Shock Doctrine, governmental secrecy, spying on citizens, illegal and immoral wars of aggression for profit and control, bailouts for the wealthy, etc.
Attack the source of all these problems, not just these symptoms! Here's my solutions to address this source in the United States: http://MostCrucial.info/Evidence/goals.php (note point seven, especially). However, the Establishment will fight, and has massive power, against such proactive corrections to the fixed game that protects the owners and keepers of the Establishment.
Here is even a more advanced, longer-term, if not idealistic, solution: The Zeitgeist Movement (and/or see Designing the Future).
How to get closer to these peace building solutions is through spreading widespread awareness to the people though any means available.
To a wiser earth!
Bret |
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Hi Bret!
I agree with you that our current global financial system is at the root of much of society's problems. How can we ever have a truly peaceful and relatively equal world when there is an increasingly disparate gap between the rich and the poor?
I also agree we can't take our eyes off of the big picture issues such as government corruption/secrecy/abuse, the WTO, wars for aggression, bailouts for the wealthy, etc.
But how do we achieve such a vision? And how many of us are capable of taking action on it?
I think that current peacebuilding efforts are an effective means to mobilize more people to see & take action on the big picture issues. Currently, the bill for a US Dept of Peace is asking just 2% of the budget for the US Dept. of Defense. It would effectively lower violence in communities (by following the models of many successful peacebuliding efforts), lead to more effective schools, educate our government on diplomacy and nonviolent tactics, and much more.
I think that when people are educated about peace and no longer live in communities wrecked by violence, they no longer choose to live in the mindset that one culture, nation, ethnic or religious group is superior above all else. They no longer fall prey to the propaganda of the global "war on terror", blind patriotism or violent religious fundamentalism. They then become wiser and are open to seeing the big picture.
Mike |
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I forgot to mention, that I think "Peacebuilding" encompasses many different fields. There are many issues in the world which create conflict and violence, and which are in need of experts/specialists and constructive & non-violent solutions. I do not think the world can afford to continue to increase military spending (especially in the US, where our defense budget is almost equal to the rest of the world combined, and 8X larger than China's). We cannot afford a military/arms race, and the false hope that we merely need stronger militaristic solutions for our world's problems, when there are "peacebuilding" (non-violent, non-military) solutions available...as is explained in the proposed bill for the US Dept of Peace.
This is the Culture of Peace Initiative Peace Wheel: It was developed by Pathways To Peace over the last 25 years. It consists of eight sectors, or pathways, that are interconnected. The Peace Wheel demonstrates the diverse ways that humanity is building a Culture of Peace along one or more of these pathways.
The eight paths are: Governance / Law / Security, Education / Media, Economics / Business, Health / Relationships, Science / Technology, Religion / Spiritual Teachings, Environment / Habitat, Culture |
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This is one good example of an organization which would fall under "Religion / Spiritual Teachings": the Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization Initiative.
They recognize that the severity of the problems which our world faces, requires that we greatly expand participation among diverse populations. While there is some hope that many of our problems can be addressed at an inter-governmental scale, it may not be too little, too late. In addition, a government's ability to absorb all of the collective energy and work of individuals requires additional "outlets" to plug into.
I believe there is a great need to expand inter-community, inter-cultural and inter-religious participation. This in turn requires that we understand the complexities of diverse communities. |
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Hi Michael, I'm excited to see this Discussion Forum... have been working with Pathways To Peace since before it started and this is just great. Wanted to let you know that I also work with the Restorative Justice Funding Circle of Threshold Foundation, and would suggest you check out the projects they have funded -- at thresholdfoundation.org. We are just doing evaluations on a new set of projects (some continuing), and it's wonderful what some of the groups are doing. I'll keep my eyes open for "peacebuilding solutions" as I go through the docket.
Thanks for all you do for the Culture of Peace Initiative, and for the field of Peacebuilding. May Peace Prevail on Earth!
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I don't think the vast majority of people need to be more into peace (though it would not hurt!); the problem is the self-called elites who are not for it and are not listening to the people. For example, a clear majority of people are against the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations. However, the US government refuses to represent our choice for peace. The US government even says that it is trying to bring "democracy" to Iraq at the same time that it is refusing to listen to the vast majority of the Iraqi people, who want the U.S. military out of Iraq. Isn't democracy when the people rule, or at least where governments represent/respect their will?
People need to see through the facade of government and main-stream-media propaganda to see that these are corrupt institutions and that the best way to peace is to either uncorrupt them or replace them, which they will fight tooth and nail against in multifarious and powerful and sophisticated and subtle ways. Target the source of the problem first--otherwise things will likely get progressively worse even though small victories may seem to be achieved.
imho,
:) |
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I think Peacebuilding Solutions is a much more self-explanatory name than CPI. Michael, thank you for your outstanding work on this & other work you do for peace! I've seen how hard you've worked & voted for you to WE Advisory Council.
Thanks to all of you for your on-going efforts for peace. It's all necessary & contributes to the culture of peace we need to create.
Best wishes,
Janine |
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@Joanie thanks for the advice to check on the projects funded by the Threshold Foundation. I think a great way of learning about "peacebuilding solutions" would be to look at projects that have a solid infrastructure in place. Thank you for the many years you've spent on peacebuilding work!
@Bret (SicJedi) It should definitely be of concern that the gov didn't represent the people's opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I remember actively organizing against the war and militarism while in college, but I also remember how there was such a small minority of people who seemed to believe there was anything we could do about it.
So it's why I feel that we also need a more long-term strategy in order to build a critical mass of engaged and educated people who can take appropriate action.
But I think we really are on the same page here, as I think there are many projects in the field of "peacebuilding" which intersects with the goals you mention. I also share your point of view, as I agree there are many problems in the world that we must deal with directly (and soon) to prevent them from getting progressively worse.
@Janine Haha that's an interesting point. Perhaps I can at least start with our tagline :) Aw thank you for voting! Haha. I spend a lot of time in the virtual world but hope to do more in the real world sometime too..
Best,
Mike |
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The International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers are holding their 17th annual conference in Chicago, IL from June 11-14, 2009.
Please go to www.iahl.org to learn more or to register.
Our theme this year is "Voices of the New Lawyer".
We are honoring Steven Keeva, author of Transforming Practies, on the 10th anniversary of the publication of this important volume.
Please help spread the word to attorneys, law school students and professors that you think might be interested. |
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Please continue to share your Peacebuilding Solutions in our resources section!
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I recently returned the Resources module to our CPI group, and renamed it "Peacebuilding Solutions".
I think this is the best use of the module, as it'll provide a lot more insight to others about what exactly "Peacebuilding" is, and how it has been proven to reduce violence & conflict.
It'd also be a great way to tap into the collective knowledge of the WE community. Thank you to those who are contributing! I think it's important to set some guidelines for what should be included under "Peacebuilding Solutions". Here are my ideas..
Specific stories & studies of how violence/conflict has been reduced through
and what shouldn't be included...
I'm sure this list can be expanded or changed in the future. I think that there are many examples of "peace projects" out there, but I find that there are some examples which definitely make a stronger case for the need for peacebuilding, while there are some which might leave us skeptical or not very enthusiastic about the field of peacebuilding. I also think resources that have supporting statistics should be highly valued, but obviously think it'd be impossible to have statistics for every peacebuilding solution.
Thoughts?