Thoughts on Torture, Terror, War and Peace
I read a lot of Political commentary over the last day or so, as I caught up on what had transpired while I was offline. I now have a thought to contribute to the discussion. What if, we did what we think, rather than thinking about what we do. Admittedly this sin't a new approach, it's been around in one form or another for decades, stronger at some times than at others. What really crushed the spirit of Independance in America? Was it the Depression? The Automobile? Was it the American Civil War? At what point did we, as a nation stop seeing our interdependancy with our peers, both domestically, and internationially? All war at it's most basic level has been caused when one group, or one class, or one Autocrat has chosen to overlook the basic interdependancy of humankind, taking from those whose needs are barely met, in order to sustain those who have more than they need. What if everyone, for one month, used absolutely no more than they needed and donated the rest to a cause, or for a week or even a day? Since one of the leading economic indicators (and thereby guiding forces of a capitalist based system of finance and governing)is discretionary spending, would we have the power to actually affect a real change in our nation's policies, both at home and abroad. If we did this, consciously focused on acting in our every moment for one day to bring about a change toward peace, human rights, and REAL steps toward changing our environment, would it be possible?
John Lennon said to Imagine, Dr. King had a Dream, The Kennedy borthers began real change and all of them were gunned down by men who were so vested in the status quo remaining that they were willing to kill. As long as those who are willing to kill those who oppose them have the power to kill thier opposition, there can be no peace. We have to be more willing to die than willing to kill. More willing to live, even with the fear that "they (be it our Govenment, the Terrorists, or whoever)" may kill us. Doing the right thing is never without cost, and sacrifice. Sometimes, yes, refusal to act with an intent of violence does cause violence to be done to you. Peace never is achieved painlessly. Peace is achieved when all parties involved in a conflict see the damage the retaliatory damages cause themselves and choose to STOP acting out of violence, and begin acting towards their "opponents" as they would act toward "their own people". So long as we are unwilling, unable, or uniterested in treating all humankind as equals, those who choose torture, and slaughter, and carnage win. It's that simple. If we are less willing to act on a belief of peace, than others are to act from a belief in war, the war will go on, with or without our approval. Merely opposing war is not enough, we have to live in such a way as to promote peace. How we do that is entirely personal, some may choose to march, some may choose to sit in, some may choose to vote, some may choose to practice conscious consumption, freecyling, recycling, living off the land, self sufficiancy, community based sufficiancy, but we can NOT contiue to sit idly by while our "leaders" (Who have to be followed to lead) charge down a path that is the anathema to basic human rights.
John Lennon said to Imagine, Dr. King had a Dream, The Kennedy borthers began real change and all of them were gunned down by men who were so vested in the status quo remaining that they were willing to kill. As long as those who are willing to kill those who oppose them have the power to kill thier opposition, there can be no peace. We have to be more willing to die than willing to kill. More willing to live, even with the fear that "they (be it our Govenment, the Terrorists, or whoever)" may kill us. Doing the right thing is never without cost, and sacrifice. Sometimes, yes, refusal to act with an intent of violence does cause violence to be done to you. Peace never is achieved painlessly. Peace is achieved when all parties involved in a conflict see the damage the retaliatory damages cause themselves and choose to STOP acting out of violence, and begin acting towards their "opponents" as they would act toward "their own people". So long as we are unwilling, unable, or uniterested in treating all humankind as equals, those who choose torture, and slaughter, and carnage win. It's that simple. If we are less willing to act on a belief of peace, than others are to act from a belief in war, the war will go on, with or without our approval. Merely opposing war is not enough, we have to live in such a way as to promote peace. How we do that is entirely personal, some may choose to march, some may choose to sit in, some may choose to vote, some may choose to practice conscious consumption, freecyling, recycling, living off the land, self sufficiancy, community based sufficiancy, but we can NOT contiue to sit idly by while our "leaders" (Who have to be followed to lead) charge down a path that is the anathema to basic human rights.