Is America Ready for Peace and Democracy?

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“Like a broken clock that happened to chime on time, George W. Bush delivered the State of the Union Address to the people of the United States on January 20. Of the seven years of his administration, he said, “We faced hard decisions about peace and war.” This was encouraging because he did not just include peace – it was placed first. But I wonder how we as a nation can be proponents of peace when it seems so many people are attached to maintaining the notion of difference? Difference –between peoples, nations –is too often the basis for war….”

Author: Wim Laven, formerly of the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka, currently in the Portland State University Conflict Resolution MA/MS program
Published in: Oregon Herald in Portland, Oregon
Date: February 7, 2008

For the full article:
Is America Ready for Peace and Democracy?
(594 words)
by Wim Laven
Like a broken clock that happened to chime on time, George W. Bush delivered the State of the Union Address to the people of the United States on January 20. Of the seven years of his administration, he said, “We faced hard decisions about peace and war.” This was encouraging because he did not just include peace – it was placed first. But I wonder how we as a nation can be proponents of peace when it seems so many people are attached to maintaining the notion of difference? Difference –between peoples, nations –is too often the basis for war.
On February 5, Super Tuesday, the political question emerged, “For which is America more ready: a black or woman President?” This is not an honest question – it is an indictment! Parents, teachers, and countless others are failing to maintain the core values of American democracy. It is not simply enough to assert that making such distinctions from such superficial differences (practicing discrimination) is morally wrong. That provides too much wiggle room.
No, the part that has been lost is the responsibility that everyone holds. Democracy was never supposed to mean, “Winner takes all.” Democracy (it was understood) was meant to have the majority protect the rights of the minority. I am not sure the United States is such a great melting pot; everywhere I look I see signs of racism, sexism, homophobia, and the list goes on – hardly a protection of rights and a far cry from the noble values of our Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.”
These are beautiful words and they can be more than just a lofty goal. After all, there was a Nation that believed in and defended these values at one time and it is what sets the United States of America apart. In Canada they say: “peace, order, and good government” and in France: “liberty, equality, fraternity.” They are all good principles, and I think they aim towards the same good; however, “the pursuit of happiness” is a guarantee like no other. Yet with this right it is also easiest to measure the shortcomings.
So, if I could correct George W. Bush I would not say it was not a matter of the decisions being hard. Rather, I would say it is a matter of making serious mistakes when it came to peace and war. The decision to place peace ahead of war in a speech is an easy one – just give it a chance. Further, to the point in protecting the rights of the citizens, listen to them; when the minority says “we don’t want this war,” listen to them; when the majority says “we don’t want this war,” listen to them.
In thinking about “what America is ready for” I hope people will remember “[t]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men” (Lyndon Johnson, 1965). It is not simply a choice to think of others, it is an obligation – and it is time we stopped blaming our leaders for the problems they have failed to address and addressed with failure. Otherwise on January 20th, 2009 there might just be someone new to complain about and the same sets of problems.

Wim Laven is a former member of the international Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka and is currently a Teaching Assistant in the Portland State University Conflict Resolution MA/MS program.