Creating Tolerance and World Peace

Posts Tagged ‘Nonviolence’

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World Peace—it’s too big; it’s too hard. One person’s contribution won’t change anything. That’s what we tell ourselves.  But achieving World Peace will take more than the diplomacy of our world leaders; it will take more than generous donations of money from the philanthropic wealthy.  World Peace begins with each individual. Every day each and every person can move the world closer to universal peace.  How?  There are many ways to contribute, here are just a few.

Teach and live nonviolence

Western culture is inundated with graphic images violence.  Movies, video games, television news and entertainment, present hundreds of violent images each day.  To counteract these images, teachers and parents need to demonstrate conflict resolution in a positive way.  Use the violent images to start a discussion about nonviolent ways to resolve the conflict.

Work towards equitable use of resources

Western culture consumes 2/3 of the world’s resources.  Get involved in promoting equitable trade, conservation, and sustainable development. Be a conscious user of resources. Awareness is the first step towards change.

Change you

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  Operate from a place of love and tolerance.  Be awake and aware of those around you.  Take every opportunity to help. Whether it is cleaning up the park, babysitting for your neighbor’s children, or making a donation to a children’s organization, lending a hand is changing the world.

World peace begins with individuals. Let peace begin with you, then your family.  Let it flow out and encompass your neighborhood, your community, your region, state, country and hemisphere.

There is a cliché that every contestant in a beauty pageant always wants “world peace.” Of course, most people want world peace, but do we actually know what that means? World peace is the ideal of a world where there is happiness, freedom, and peace in every nation and among all people. Incorporated in that ideal would be a world free from violence and wars and in which nations willingly cooperate with each other to govern in a peaceful manner and find a non-violent way to resolve differences. In reality, world peace is generally used as a broad term to refer to a global “cease fire.” Unfortunately, though, over the course of 2009 to 2010, world violence has actually increased and world peace has declined.

While the concept of world peace is theoretically possible, some people feel that human nature is such that it would not be possible. Their belief is that it is human nature to be violent and/or that otherwise rational people will choose to commit violence in certain circumstances.

Another school of thought is that it is not in human nature to be violent and that war is not a part of human nature. Their belief is that it is this thought process and the myth that humans are naturally violent creatures that continues to prevent world peace.

There are numerous ideological theories and ideas from political groups, religious groups, and individuals on how to actually achieve world peace, but obviously our societies are not to the point where this can become a reality quite yet. World peace cannot be achieved until there is no more conflict over resources. Oil has become one of the main sources of conflict among nations. Possibly in time there will be additional technology invented that will utilize renewable resources, and therefore open the door for world peace.