Summary
Peace building is needed in the USA. We must choose our words carefully and reach out to each other. We must stand up for each other. We must respond, under pressure. The alternative is civil war. We can and we will build peace in the USA.
Peace Building for Collective Wellbeing
I believe that we are more alike than different, in the USA and in the world. Our differences are our superpowers: we complement each other because of our differences. We need each other’s differences. Our lives are better in a peaceful society. We need peace building for collective wellbeing. Let’s explore together.
Peace Building Is for Other Countries
I do not know how to break it to you except bluntly. We are an inch away from civil war in the USA. We need peace building in the USA.
Our society’s infrastructure is being dissolved in real time. Social norms are changing without our consent – well, actually with our consent if we remain silent. Government is being legislated away, one state at a time. Government agencies are being decimated by decree. Hopefully, the lawsuits will reverse the illegal proclamations. Democracy is being replaced by authoritarianism.
It is no longer socially unacceptable to be verbally threatening, physically aggressive, viscerally angry, and hateful in a public space. We used to check each other. ‘Hey there, cool down, let’s take a walk outside.’ If that didn’t work, we would call reinforcements and that may have meant law enforcement. Now? Nope. Our leaders are modeling these hateful, aggressive, intolerant, slogan-laden, falsehood-rife language and actions. And, many of us are following suit.
We definitely need peace building in the USA.
The Survival of Society
The reality is, you cannot banish your enemies from your neighbourhood, from your school, from your bank, from your community centre, from your church or synagogue or mosque or temple, and expect to maintain society. We rely on each other and our interactions reflect this symbiotic connection. Our interactional discourse is currency for social alliances and socially constructed norms. When we stop honouring the socially constructed norms, we destroy the niceties of dealing with each other.
Which is exactly what has occurred. The vulgar and hateful mannerisms endorsed by the current President and his cabinet have normalized these behaviours in the general public. Begetting hate is the consequence.
The federal cabinet’s behaviours and actions elicit exactly what I just said we cannot sustain in our society. Banishing and attacking our opponents depletes our society of the richness derived from the differences amongst us. Apparently, the current President and his cabinet do not realize that eventually there will be nobody left.
Perhaps, that is the point. Banish everyone until no one is left. That certainly explains the cruelty. That explains the cruelty of the President and of his cabinet.
We, the people, have another choice.
Peace Building for Collective Wellbeing
Don’t listen to me. Listen to the experts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DNiXse1Qwk
John Avlon interview with John Paul Lederach: How to Stop a Civil War
Dr. John Paul Lederach has been working in peace building for decades. He has a few words for us and these include: we have amassed the ingredients for a civil war in the USA. We engage in rhetoric eliciting emotional responses in our opponents. Intense emotions generated by an attack on identity (yes, identification with a leader and the leader’s rhetoric) cause us to bypass the frontal lobe (the area which should allow us to analyze, plan, execute actions), so we react (we do not respond with feedback from the frontal lobe) with our amygdala. You do it. I do it. Those who hold opposing views do it.
What’s the solution?
Extract the ideas from the mush of feelings and thoughts and impressions and perspectives and biases and maybe, if we are lucky, we will distill the topic to the core idea of the discussion at hand. In other words, we need to choose our words carefully. We need to engage in a true debate, not a newshour publicity stunt to enlarge our media ratings.
We need to become smart communicators. Yes, as Naom Chomsky said over 30 years ago, the media manufactures consent. And, so can we, in our discussions. We have to employ social intelligence and emotional intelligence. And, a good dose of kindness.
Tell me if you would want to return to a discussion with a person who wagged their finger at you, yelled at you, called you names, labeled your beliefs with any number of pejorative terms, threatened your life and your livelihood, slashed your tires, stopped traffic on your street, and ranted on and on and on. I sure would not want to.
The current administration is doing just that. That’s their point. Their point is cruelty. Their point is to deter further discussion. Their point is to have people flee the scene or even to flee the country.
But, our society will not survive if we allow this trend to continue. And our moral strength will evaporate if we do not stand up for each other. Because, in the end, our differences make us stronger, wiser, and smarter. We need each other, in our churches and synagogues and mosques and temples, in our banks, in our community centres, in our supermarkets, in our farm fields, in our schools, in our hospitals, in our nursing homes, in our warehouses, in our police stations, in our military, in our technology companies, in our housekeeping departments, in our daycares, in our neighbourhoods. We are so much more together.
We need peace building. For our collective wellbeing.
Strategies for Peace Building for Collective Wellbeing
Don’t listen to me. Listen to the experts. Listen to Dr. John Paul Lederach: A Recipe for Cooling Down American Politics, on the Mission Forward podcast
Of course, music to inspire us. For the sighted, check out the visuals from this version of Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyT8mVwf_40
We can help each other. We can stand up for each other. We can prevent a repeat of the 1930s. We must prevent an economic depression, another genocide, and the destruction of war. Our society depends on you and me to do the right thing, under pressure.
And, we will.
The alternative is Reverend Niemöller’s experience expressed in poetry: ‘First they came for…’
Be well. Be kind. Be patient. Be compassionate.
Disclaimer: This post is not meant to substitute for a consultation with your mental health professional team.
If you are having thoughts to hurt yourself or someone else, please CALL 9-1-1; CALL 9-8-8; or GO TO the nearest EMERGENCY ROOM.
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