Essay, Research Paper
Creating A Culture of Peace
Peace. That has been the main goal of many different cultures throughout the history of time. Whether or not they have attained that main goal of peace is very debatable. It all depends on whose definition of peace you are looking at, and how someone would distinguish a culture of peace from a culture of disharmony. Since the subject of peace is very abstract and philosophical in nature, it becomes very difficult to find a way to create peace within a culture that will satisfy everyone. Due to this great difficulty, many people believe that it will never be possible to create peace within our culture. They believe that it is just a far-fetched dream. However, if one were to take this idea of peace being something we can never attain, then there is another way of looking at the subject. Peace is obviously something we can have that will satisfy everyone, but it is something that we can always work on and improve.
The ways in which we can improve our culture can be much easier to understand when we break down everyone s definition of peace into separate points. By doing this we can specifically improve each aspect and in the long run we will have created a much more peaceful society.
The first aspect of peace is the spirit peace, which reflects how we feel about ourselves and how we treat others. Peace is to smile at the world, taking good care of the animals, the trees, the lakes, and being aware of the environment. When we understand nature – and accept the fact that we are part of it – then there will be peace. We want a clean, balanced, and uncorrupted environment for our children to grow up in. We, as individuals of a whole, like peace because we like the world. We need peace in order to feel safe, and inner peace is necessary to accomplishing this. We should contribute to global peace and not just keep it inside us, because having a truly peaceful society means not being selfish and self centered.
The next aspect of peace is the health and education of the entire world and the nourishment they need in food and water. In a culture of peace, no one should go hungry, because if there is even one person who goes hungry in this world, then we are lacking as a culture. Everybody should have daily access, in sufficient quantity, to clean water and food, because it is a necessity that everyone must have. Everybody in the world deserves to have the best medical attention, not just the rich. In a culture of peace, an addiction to any drug or substance should be treated as a disease, not a crime to be punished. Everyone deserves decent, warm shelter. Education should not be limited to simply those who live in a prosperous country, but equal access to information should be available to every person in the world. All individuals have the right to act and appear as they choose, as long as the freedom of their fellow man is not infringed. We want that ideas, knowledge, dreams and conceptions, as well as goods and services, to be shared without restrictions.
Another aspect that a culture of peace should have equality between every individual, and social unity as a whole. The principle of equality, in every respect, between all the people of the earth is unquestionable. Material wealth shall be divided equally among the people of the world; not just those whom society feels should be awarded it. Man and woman must have equal rights, because it is completely ignorant and empty to still have the opinion that one individual is better than another simply because they were born a different gender. We must give peace to the children, they are the future of the world, and if we ignore the future, then we are once again being selfish and self centered.
An important part of a peaceful culture has to do with war and politics. Simply put, where there is war, there is no peace. We all seek a life without violence, and when witness violence, we shouldn t turn our heads, but we should try to help. We want armies without guns, and soldiers that are not here to fight but to help people in need. Since war and fighting are direct resultants of politics, it is important how we treat our political life. We are the world, and we have a big voice and a big say in what should be done, so we must have a representative who shows and considers our views well. Everyone should be able to have a fair say, and we must tell our governments what we want and how we want it, as opposed to not caring about how and why.
A final part of a peaceful culture is about conflicts and resolutions. We live in a world of opposing views; peace is to accept that we must never try to force our opinion on others. In a situation of opposing views, never shall any kind of violence be employed, neither the threat nor the use of it.
Peace is to let go of one’s pride so there may be compromise. Communication, tolerance and understanding are the basis for resolving situations of conflict. Peace means to say sorry, and ask for forgiveness. It means to make up for all the bad things that have been done.
Many of these qualities make the act of creating a culture of peace seem impossible and like this is just someone s idea of a utopian society. However, It s not the act of actually attaining peace within our culture that will create a better society, it is the act of always making a strong effort to improve the downfalls of our society. We must focus on one specific aspect of a peaceful culture and try to improve it. Peace is not a dream. Peace is a project.