It Is The Best Choice I Know

"Peace is not the absence of conflict"
for life can't be avoided
even our bodies have internal conflicts going on
to be alive is a conflict
Rather it is "the presence of creative alternatives
for responding to conflict- alternatives
to passive aggressive responses, alternatives to violence"

"A highly decorated general who proudly supports the troops
can be become quite Pacifist when confronted by social justice
and a antiwar activist who aggressively pursues a counter-recruitment
campaign can be very much a Warrior"
to be an advocate for peace doesn't mean being an appeaser
but rather soldier in a movement that can be sustained

Killing another human being leaves a stain that lasts
at least one generation, usually more
it denotes that the mental faculties that have the potential
to serve us so well have not been engaged
violence creates a wound that require more then a bandaid
and platitudes of fake empathy or condemnation

Now there may be times where violence is a required option
I am not one to dispute the usefulness of the armed forces
but I think a great case can be made that since World War Two
the case for warfare has been pretty weak
which by the way was the last time stuffed suits in
the Congress of the United States declared war

We also need to pay attention to the idea that
with foreign policy we are dealing with people whose
outlook may be one hundred shades different from our own
and may even be fashioned by prior negative experiences
certainly when the US goes to South America espousing democracy
then supports a regime who make protesters "disappear"

When the US says it wants to help a country whose president
thirty years ago we tried to assassinate for being a "socialist"
we should not be shocked that there are voices of skepticism
while some blows are easy to recover from
others take much longer and void an incentive to change
can easily be reopened

The field of law has been touted as nonviolent conflict resolution
but attorneys have also created a myriad of "excuses" for engaging
in violent behavior and have been successful in making sure
evidence is buried so thick that no one else will ever see it
a good legal argument does not a good statesman make

Peace takes energy and a constant regard for tensions
that may fester and pick up steam
it requires a dialogue that values each person
not just those who can contribute to campaigns
and have their hands on the engines of capitalism
it requires the long range view to how technology
of today for civilian benefit may be converted
into the next weapon of destruction tomorrow

But I submit to you Peace is also
the best way to sustain this world
to dismantle the prison industrial society
it is what allows one to go down to the store
and not have to lock the door
to allow the kids to play outside and
not be worried about bullets
it is what allows us to link people
of different nations in world-wide brother/sisterhood