2008 Woodie Awards
Peace is the Way
Alan Nordstrom
Issue date: 10/2/06 Section: Opinions
The next stage in the evolution of human consciousness, the next great awakening, the next wonderful AH-HA! moment will be our collective discovery of peace as the only sane way to behave.
The often glamourized ideas of violence and war will at last seem childishly immature and repugnant to a species that has glutted itself on them throughout its history. The oxymoronic absurdity of such a notion as "war games" will finally dawn on us.
Even such sports as those on "the playing fields of Eton" that prepare boys to win wars will seem obscene. The brutality of boxing, football and hockey - all surrogates for war, and not even excusable as "the moral equivalent of war" - will fade away in shame as have (or will have) torture, lynching and beheading, the barbarities of the adolescence of our race.
"Not possible!" the nay-sayers protest. "We'll always have conflicts that will frustrate and anger us unbearably and that will inevitably spark violence. That's just human nature. That's our survival imperative kicking in to protect our bodies, our property, our rights, our egos. We're still, at bottom, beasts. Our reptilian and mammalian brains lie under our nobler neo-cortex, and we'll revert instinctively to animalistic behaviors when pushed far enough. At bottom our survival depends on our ability to fight for our lives or the lives of our loved ones."
"Ah, but," comes the pacific reply, "that's where the structures of civilizing institutions come in: custom, law, government, education, ethics - all designed to prevent violence and promote conflict-resolution reasonably, equitably, amicably, peacefully, wisely.
Add to that: regimens of counseling and therapies that help people to understand and deal well with the conflicts in their lives and to discover the satisfactions of personal and social fulfillment and self-realization in loving - not fearful-communities."
Such a daily world already exists for millions of people, I'm sure, even though their tranquil personal lives are surrounded by the world of nightly news broadcasts filled with dire reports and ads for medicines to help us cope with them. One day, though, we may all grow up, wake up, wise up, and choose peace. "There is no way to peace," said Gandhi; "Peace is the way."
Is it your way yet?
The often glamourized ideas of violence and war will at last seem childishly immature and repugnant to a species that has glutted itself on them throughout its history. The oxymoronic absurdity of such a notion as "war games" will finally dawn on us.
Even such sports as those on "the playing fields of Eton" that prepare boys to win wars will seem obscene. The brutality of boxing, football and hockey - all surrogates for war, and not even excusable as "the moral equivalent of war" - will fade away in shame as have (or will have) torture, lynching and beheading, the barbarities of the adolescence of our race.
"Not possible!" the nay-sayers protest. "We'll always have conflicts that will frustrate and anger us unbearably and that will inevitably spark violence. That's just human nature. That's our survival imperative kicking in to protect our bodies, our property, our rights, our egos. We're still, at bottom, beasts. Our reptilian and mammalian brains lie under our nobler neo-cortex, and we'll revert instinctively to animalistic behaviors when pushed far enough. At bottom our survival depends on our ability to fight for our lives or the lives of our loved ones."
"Ah, but," comes the pacific reply, "that's where the structures of civilizing institutions come in: custom, law, government, education, ethics - all designed to prevent violence and promote conflict-resolution reasonably, equitably, amicably, peacefully, wisely.
Add to that: regimens of counseling and therapies that help people to understand and deal well with the conflicts in their lives and to discover the satisfactions of personal and social fulfillment and self-realization in loving - not fearful-communities."
Such a daily world already exists for millions of people, I'm sure, even though their tranquil personal lives are surrounded by the world of nightly news broadcasts filled with dire reports and ads for medicines to help us cope with them. One day, though, we may all grow up, wake up, wise up, and choose peace. "There is no way to peace," said Gandhi; "Peace is the way."
Is it your way yet?
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