qf the new peace
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about
a quiet fire . . .
a few years ago i was writing for a smalltown newspaper and finishing up an innovative masters degree in social entrepreneurship and change. vestiges of this are clearly found on this site; as well as the peace and conflict studies degree i now research. i also work in my local community in attempt to address the various social ills at play.
though i have always been interested in beautiful things, this further heightened study has forced me to look deeper into the crusted layers of the often unseen and twisted beauty surrounding us.
this is my attempt to share these various perusings, and ask for your participation in shaping a new peace one line at a time.
what does it look like,
what does it feel like?
is peace only possible to find in religion?
is it found within?
is peace systemic, or even plausable in the cacophony of systems at play in our world?
the single answer to these important questions is a resounding yes. a complicated yes, but a yes, nonetheless.
however, a new type of peace is required. one that tends to the needs of everyone on equal footing, while addressing each person and culture's great economic, social, political, and biological needs. this new peace must be rooted in sustainability, and with the next seven generations in mind.
this is not a quick fix.
in the coming months my team and i will attempt to lay out what this peace could look like, without stamping the hard lines of paternalism in its application. this paternalism has historically, and at present been self-defeating and ill-advised. in a sustainable peace, it is vital for the process to be directed within the frames of human dignity as well as communal honour.
scholars call this process peacebuilding, positive peace, or cultures of peace.
peace, we know, is much more than the absence of violence. it is the mindful and conscious individuals and systems working symbiotically to create environments of self-actualization.
this is the starting point, and this where we place our foundation.