Factors of Positive Peace

Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the absence of violence. What creates and sustains peace are those attitudes, information, and structures which support a communal society in which all people have equal rights and access to basic needs. The biggest cause of violence is the perceived gap between haves and have nots—whether the have nots are our forefathers wanting freedom of oppression from the king or those in poverty seeking a better life. When the perception of upward mobility is not there and when the actions of our leaders are no longer matching the morals of the people, then peace moves towards conflict and eventual violence—if not assuaged. Civil resistance is a leading indicator of impending lower peace and peace is a prerequisite for survival. 

The 5 stages of conflict, a spiral towards escalation, are:

Durable Peace

Stable Peace - Peacetime diplomacy

Unstable Peace - Preventative diplomacy

Crisis - Crisis management

Violence - Cease-fire negotiations.

I believe we are at a time of unstable peace, that point in society when we have left stable peace and seek to preempt conflict through preventative diplomacy and protest. A society becomes divided into various factions where there is, even if only perceived, an increase in discrimination of the peoples and an increase in police arrests of minority, religious or other opposing leaders… it is at this point in time in society where history teaches us that conflict is around the corner and violence is drawing nearer. Unstable peace is marked by those times when you find a society divided with ever growing escalation—an intensity of means trying to move towards an ends. But are we on the path for the ends I believe we all desire? 

Conflict starts when we hold onto ideologies, those beliefs, roles, values of our culture that we are unwilling to look at from another’s point of view. I wonder what the world thinks when they look at the United States today? I know I don’t like what I see on the TV, the internet, and social media today about us and our collective behavior. Conflict continues as we continue to misunderstand the other, misperceptions with no basis or desire to understand, and most of all, conflict persists where power and wealth are at the heart of the matter.

So then, who is responsible for preventing/ending violence? Is it ‘them’ over ‘there’” or ‘me’ over ‘here’? How do we de-escalate and reduce our societies conflicts? On what common grounds can we unite rather than divide?

There are 8 factors of positive peace which we must focus on achieving:

Well-functioning government

Equitable division of resources

Free flow of information

Good relations with neighbors

High levels human capital which increases life expectancy and increases literacy

Acceptance of the rights of others

Low level corruptio

Sound Business environmen

De-escalation is very difficult, it requires each one of us to willingly open our minds to see and accept others differently? Whether those others are Muslim or Christian, Bernie or Trump, Black or White… it matters not what splits us, we need to focus on what unites us, our humanity. Conflict costs the world over 17 trillion dollars a year not to mention the countless lives which are impacted for many generations following. These costs do not include the money needed to clean up after the mess or to remedy the physical and mental wounds of our soldiers, our society, of our children. War costs us not just money, but terrible moral and legal dilemmas such a

Do we kill children soldiers

Do we negotiate with criminals?

Do we support sovereignty of crimes against humanity in the name of war

A society who defines success as growth market share and who achieves it through competition against one another is doomed from the beginning. I believe that “We the People” need to challenge ourselves individually and collectively on how we are living up to these ideologies and continue our fight for freedom, for a peaceful and more perfect union, and to promote the general welfare and security of all people everywhere

 “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”  - Albert Einstein.? ? stn