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Loading...An End to Violence? Could the Dream Be in Sight?
Ed McCurdy’s dream may be coming true. In 1950 he penned the lyrics for a song that inspired the peace movement. The lines that galvanized those who heard and sang “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” were:
“I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.”
The dream is in sight, and mainstream media may look pretty foolish when historians look back from the 22nd century. With crime and violence at historic lows, the astonishing spread of peace still gets little coverage. Writing about the global decline in violence, Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders writes:
“Violent crime has become a rarity, rather than a part of daily life, almost everywhere.
“I realize this. Yet I am also guilty of helping create the opposite perception. I have reported on dozens of murders, more than one mass slaying, and I have done much reporting from Afghanistan, Libya, Bosnia, Kosovo and other places stricken with violence. I offer no apology: We need to know about these things. But the totality of all these front pages does create a false perception of the state of the world.”
Read more: hope, nonviolence, peace, roots of peace, violence, war
Photo from katerha via Flickr Creative Commons
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Very cool pictures of some awesome turtles! Thanks for sharing!
Asian Carp in the Great Lakes.
68 comments
+ add your own"Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
(Native American proverb)
"We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not yet learned the simple art of living together as brothers." (Martin Luther King)
EVERY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL NEEDS TO MAKE PEACE WITH THEMSELVES FIRST....THEN THERE WILL BE WORLD PEACE.
Overall violence may have declined but there are still plenty of women, children and men who are exploited and enslaved around the world. That is also a form of violence, but it is more easily overlooked form because it is hidden by the governments and corporations who are doing the exploiting. This is the next thing that needs to be addressed and we are all responsible to a lesser or greater degree.
This is so encouraging. The media only reports the bad stuff because that's what sells. It is so wonderful to read the facts that are never reported. It renews hope and abolishes the feeling of helplessness brought on by the continual bombardment of negativity in national and international news.
Lin M, I do hope your prediction is wrong. I know the feeling; I've felt it often myself. But knowing that everything in the Universe boils down to energy, I keep trying to put out the positive because that's what we will get back in spades if we reach that critical mass of love instead of hate. So hang in there Lin, and join the positive brigade to help reach that mass. What have you got to lose?
Wth?
"Suppose they make a war and nobody comes?" Wars keep on happening because common people go and fight for someone else's interests (politicians, war lords, drug traffickers, religious fanatics, capitalists, bankers, weapons makers, etc.).
We can start by commemorating again Armistice (end of fighting) Day instead of Veterans (fighters, killers) Day in November 11. Armistice was declared by 11:11 am, 11/11/1918. It was expected to be the end of "the war to end all wars". It was not, but we can try again, by 11:11 am, 11/11/2011.
Carole P., I agree with you about the witch hunts and lynchings, but how come we are still allowing beheadings and hands being cut off in this day and age? This is still being done in 2011 under the guise of "religious freedom". I'm not seeing much protest against these attrocities? Why?
Fantastic!! I've thought this as well. When you look back, to lynchings, crusades, witch hunts,etc, there is so much that we no longer tolerate. I know there is still war going on and hate crimes being committed and so forth but I really believe that the more we see of these (meaning the transparency brought by satelites, embedded media and such), the less we will tolerate. We are beginning to see that we really are in this together.
If only these lyrics would come true. Enough already with war. Aren't people smart enough to figure out that war is just not the answer? Wouldn't it be fantastic if all wars ended today?
I have long hoped that someone or some organization would take up the banner "Violence Is Not A Solution". "Peace" has a calming effect. Lets have more of it.
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