Working Towards Peace

By Kamala Sarup

Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said in 2005, all countries and people should stop all hostilities for one day to observe the International Day of Peace. Annan said 24 hours of global ceasefire is not a long time but it is enough for the combatants and political leaders to consider the destruction they are visiting on their people, and on their lands. It is long enough to look over the barricades, and through the barbed wire and to see if there is another path," he urged.

The 20th century was the worst ever. Then why should we think that peace loving efforts will make life any better in the 21st century? From all the evidence, the Game Theory, the League of Nations, the Declaration of Human Rights, the Einstein-Russell Manifesto, etc., have done nothing to prevent or ameliorate violence, war or terrorism to this date. We can continue making declarations and manifestos, we can continue sending bills to the government or Parliament, but terrorism and aggression still continue. Also, establishing Ministries of Peace alone are least likely to accomplish anything.

There is a serious danger that human civilization will self-destruct, possibly before the end of the twenty-first century. Therefore, let us consider what it is? It is a strong appeal for a better world as we want it to be.

"The likelihood of achieving our aspirations are to be found in an analysis of human behavior, which is a combination of genetic and environmental causes, including the behavior patterns called aggression. We have evidence for aggression from infants at birth, before any socialization, who exhibit aggression when their immediate needs are not met. Also, we have plenty of evidence from primitive and modern societies that aggression is promoted or inhibited by different cultures, so that some are only relatively pacific." Said a peace activist Kozawlowski.

He further said "Spartans were taught to be aggressive, Athenians less so. Among Amerindians, Iroquois were aggressive, while Algonquins were less so. Thus, the problem of making more peace and less violence, terrorism and war amounts to societal restructuring of an environment that promotes peaceful behavior patterns. We shall see if our preferences for a peaceful world are likely to achieve our goals".

At present, rich people often help the poor. It seems that the rich will send huge amounts of money to the poor for the sake of human kindness. Best that can be done is to continue with globalization, which takes money from the lower classes of rich and gives some of it to the poor (the remainder to the rich upper classes) in a way that is palatable to the upper classes.

There is absolutely some logic or evidence that promoting sustainable world economic growth will close the gap between the rich and poor countries.

We can work hard and hope collectively for peace. On the role of people in constructing a more peaceful world, they have held lots of conferences and written lots of words on the subject for many years, but the result is not persuasive.

It is true, the present culture of violence - not only of physical, but also mental and spiritual violence - must be made to disappear, replaced by a culture of peace.

Logically, peace is an essential aspect of human civilization. It allows societies to use existing resources and infrastructure to improve the quality of life. Peace implies access to political, economic, social and cultural rights by all.

Peace also promotes nonviolence.

Nearly 23.5 million Nepalis want peace in the country. If politics does not become part of the solution, it will motivate hate. We must all, therefore, make a sincere effort to work together to make democracy meaningful. If we want to continue with democracy, we must guarantee peace.

Kamala is an editor for mediaforfreedom.com. Her specialties are in-depth reporting and writing stories on peace and anti-war issues, women, terrorism, democracy and development. Some of her publications include: Women's Empowerment in South Asia, Nepal Prevention of Trafficking in Women Through Media; Efforts to Prevent Trafficking in for Media Activism. She has also written two collections of stories.

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