modern primatives
The average American, when confronted with a proponent for peace (like myself), generally reacts with one of two emotions: violence or inquisitiveness. The violent ones react that way because they are lost and confused about life. But these people are not the ones I want to talk to right now. I want to talk to the ones who, when discovering that I'm anti-war, say "well then, what SHOULD we do?" I applaud anyone who is willing to ask this question. My answer probably isn't what most people want to hear, but it's the truth: I don't know, but I'm sure if we put our heads together we could come up with plenty of good ideas.
Think about it, the human species has been evolving for millions of years, and we've been civilized for several thousand. You mean to tell me that in all of this time we haven't been able to come up with an effective way of dealing with our problems other than resorting to violence? Seriously?
Sure, I know that violence is a holdover from our fight-or-flight days when our species was constantly in danger. And violence served us well when we encountered bigger, faster, or more clever species who wanted to eat us. But hey, we've pretty much taken care of that little inconvenience by wiping out most of these species' habitats, and running them over with our automobiles. Violence simply isn't necessary anymore for the majority of us humans who live in modern society. Its, literally, overkill. With all of the billions of dollars we humans pour into the fields of psychology, sociology, political science, anthropology, theology, epistomology (the study of learning), and other human behavior-based sciences, you'd think that we could develop a vast array of potential non-violent solutions to our problems of getting along with eachother.
The fact is that we do actually know of many solutions already. There are multiple tomes out there that offer ideas. And there are scientific studies to back up these solutions with concrete evidence. These non-violent solutions may not all work in all situations, and many may take a long time. But I'm absolutely convinced that there is always a non-violent solution to a given problem that will work as well or better than violence. If only the people in power would listen to the possibilities, instead of reaating the way humans have been reacting for millions of years. And, the only way to get the politicians, and those pulling their strings, to change their kneejerk responses is to change the way society itself responds. And that means opening people's eyes. In other words: education.
Education doesn't have to mean boring lectures in stuffy classrooms (that's not real education, anyway). Education means talking to one another. It means writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper or tv station. It means participating in your community in whatever form you feel comfortable with. School committees, hobby clubs, neighborhood picnics, coffeehouses, even bars, are all great places to talk to people and engage them in meaningful dialogue about the world. As cliche as it sounds, the pen (or spoken word) really is mightier than the sword.
As a place to start when talking about solutions to world problems and the violence caused because of them, think about why people act the way they do. As you already know, acts of violence stem from the basic premise of fight-or-flight. When people feel scared the have the choice of either running away or of lashing out at the perceived danger. (Those who choose to run away are generally less of a problem to the world.) Those who choose to lash out are the ones who we are worried about. Anger and hatred are just extensions of fear (as the wise Yoda reminded us all), and would not exist without the basic fear emotion. So, terrorists, suicide bombers, and other violent, angry, and hateful persons do what they do because they are all deathly afraid of something. Whether that threat is real or just perceived is secondary to the fact that they are quite simply afraid, and are not at all "evil". When we start thinking this way, we're able to understand these dangerous people, and only them are we able to address the root of the problem by helping them alleviate their fears. If the fears are real - like starvation, political oppression, or the threat of violence - then we can easily do something about it. We can offer sanctuary, food, education, healthcare, and other humanitarian aid. If the threat is perceived, then we can educate them or work to un-brainwash them if they've been subjected to a violent cult/religion (obviously a bit more difficult and time consuming, but perfectly doable). I guarantee that such humanitarian actions are infinitely more productive than reinforcing their fears by exploding these people's homes, families, and friends would be.
Its funny, we like to elevate the human species to be better than the rest of the animal family tree. But we really are no better than any other species when it comes to getting along with one another. If we truly want to be "eveolved" then we have to come up with a better way to live together.
