We declare
war, endless wars on
drugs, poverty, corruption, crime, cancer, rust and even toilet bowl rings. Our American English
language is peppered with the language of war.- ideas shot down
- attack a problem
- more ammunition for the argument
- magic bullets
- combat illness
- campaigns and crusades for issues
- bombed the test
- arm yourself against ignorance insurance fraud, termites ...
Think of your own war-like terms.
What would happen if we would call a truce from all this warring? If we
declared peace on everything? If we used the same thinking and planning and
quest for reconciling conflicting realities that we do when addressing a
shooting war? What would personal transformation look like in the “peace on
drugs?” What would structural
transformation look like in a “peace on cancer?”
This shift from war defining everything to the standard of peace will
take creative thinking. It may produce some ridiculous sounding ideas. But I am
reminded of the old adage about nonviolence used for social change…at first it
look irrational but doesn’t take long before, compared to the consequences of war, looks very rational indeed.
