Tuesday, February 26, 2008
the opposite of war...
the opposite of love is hate. what's the opposite of war? one might be inclined to say peace, but i think that is not correct. rather, peace can be to war as apathy is to hate - the absense of war, not the opposite of it. war is the decision of a nation-state to contribute a huge fraction of its gdp and emotional energy to destroying something. in that sense, foreign aid might be the opposite of war. but again, not really. foreign aid is more like the opposite of minor skirmishes, like when clinton dropped some bombs on iraq. so, i'm still stuck. i think english hasn't yet thought of a word that means the opposite of war. more importantly, it is not clear to me whether any country has even engaged in such an act (which, incidentally, explains the lack of such a word). engaging in this act would entail things like a draft to get people into something like peace corp, where many tens or hundreds of thousands of people from one country flock to another to build things. a good example would be something like what happens after a major natural disaster. instead of just sending money, we send people, goods, money, services. we stay for years helping rebuild their society (as they see fit). people who aren't drafted stay back to help build things to send over there. this could be a multilateral effect, we could form a coalition, etc. as war might be considered a great national expression of fear or hatred, this would be a great national expression of love and compassion. what should we call such a thing?
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2 comments:
I think that is not absence of war but imply love as well.peace does not mean just agree on the same ideas but is more the will of a friendship, or brotherhood.maybe I have my idea of the word peace in other languages, but when after a fight you say you make peace it is more than not fight anymore but it means to develope a positive feeling that not only should erase the reasons of the fight but also bring love between the adversaries
I think that to make peace we need love..otherwise it is just indifference
MLK Jr: True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice." I think this is what you were alluding to...a reconfiguration of what it means to be peace.
Dorothy Thompson: "Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the triumph of principle. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism. Peace is not the absence of conflict but the for presence of creative alternatives responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence."
His Holiness, the Dali Lama, whose picture is in my back pocket right now: "Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us." In my experience, I have to work at this inner peace. If I don't I will get frustrated when a classmate denigrates women or meditation. If I don't I will be scared that I cannot live with so much pain. If I don't I will be frustrated when I feel like someone isn't listening to me.
This is from NVC (non violent communication - a tool that I have much respect for):
10 things we can do to contribute to internal, interpersonal, and organizational peace
(1) Spend some time each day quietly reflecting on how we would like to relate to ourselves and others.
(2) Remember that all human beings have the same needs.
(3) Check our intention to see if we are as interested in others getting their needs met as our own.
(4) When asking someone to do something, check first to see if we are making a request or a demand.
(5) Instead of saying what we DON'T want someone to do, say what we DO want the person to do.
(6) Instead of saying what we want someone to BE, say what action we'd like the person to take that we hope will help the person be that way.
(7) Before agreeing or disagreeing with anyone's opinions, try to tune in to what the person is feeling and needing.
(8) Instead of saying "No," say what need of ours prevents us from saying "Yes."
(9) If we are feeling upset, think about what need of ours is not being met, and what we could do to meet it, instead of thinking about what's wrong with others or ourselves.
(10)
Instead of praising someone who did something we like, express our gratitude by telling the person what need of ours that action met.
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