PeaceWork The Peace in Government Issue www.depaceminterris.org Peaceful Government By Medard Gabel W Definitions and anti-definitions Government: how groups of people organize themselves to make collective decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources and other matters; the governing body of a nation, state, or community; the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states; the form or system of rule by which a state, community, etc., is governed. Or is it: the means by which a small group of people make decisions that benefit themselves while maintaining the fiction that they are making decisions for the greater good; the control and subjugation of the many by the few for the benefit of the hidden. Another angle: “The job of government is to govern—which means drawing up the rules by which society functions.”1 Contrary to some right-wing pundits, the marketplace is not the government. Government is the rule setter for the marketplace. “Markets do not have a social conscience, environmental ethic or long-term vision, and therefore market dynamics and the public interest do not necessarily align. Concentrated wealth and power nar- “ The care life Vol. 33, No. 2 Themes of Peace Is there such a thing? hat is “government”? What function does it perform? What might a peaceful government look like? What is the ideal government? Is it, as Thomas Jefferson says, to care for human life and happiness? If so, how do we measure it? What is the difference between government and governance? What is bad government? How do we measure bad government? Does a legitimate government produce weapons of mass destruction? What does it say about a government if it incarcerates large numbers of its citizens? What does it say about a government if it breaks the law? April–May 2015 of human and happiness, first and only object of good and not their destruction, is the Last year, the various editions of PeaceWork were organized around levels of peace—local, national, global, environmental and inner peace. This year we are going to use a different organizational scheme for the various editions of PeaceWork. We will be examining how peace (or its lack) manifests in various institutional settings. The last issue looked at schools. This issue will examine government. What does a government that fosters peace look like? What does a peaceful government spend its money on? How do we get a government that fosters peace, justice and prosperity? How do we get a government of the people, by the people, for the people—that is the embodiment of peace, justice and prosperity for all? destruction of human life, everything from war and the death penalty to poverty and life expectancy, would be fair measures of how a government is doing. A bad or poor-performing government is one where there is wide-scale poverty, basic human needs are not being met, basic human rights are not government.” —Thomas Jefferson rows the ranks of those with an effective voice in decision making and in public discourse.” 2 Bad government: It would seem, using the above quote by Thomas Jefferson as a guide, that the lack of care for human life and happiness, and the destruction of human life and happiness, are prime examples of bad government. By this standard, the Peaceful Government continued on page 5 Gross National Happiness By Jeffrey D. Sachs T he fourth king of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan led the way 40 years ago, drawing on ancient Buddhist wisdom. Bhutan should pursue Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than Gross National Product (GNP) like the rest of the world. Since then, Bhutan has been experimenting with a new holistic approach to development that emphasizes not just economic growth but also culture, mental health, compassion and community. Bhutan is searching for a balanced society. It’s a worthy search. Bhutan aims to avoid the Easterlin Paradox that grips the US. Professor Richard Easterlin discovered many years ago that America was becoming much richer per person but not happier, at least not according to the direct reports of wellbeing by Americans responding to surveys. This is sobering, indeed. We are threatening the planet with pollution, climate change and other environmental degradation, to chase more and more goods that don’t seem to do so much to really make us any happier. The World Happiness Report, prepared for a UN meeting on happiness promoted by Bhutan, it was found that: people are with their lives: “The happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, Finland, Netherlands). Their average life evaluation score is 7.6 on a 0-to-10 scale. The least happy countries are all poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Togo, Benin, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone) with average life evaluation scores of 3.4. But it is not just wealth that makes people happy: Political freedom, strong social networks and an absence of corruption are together more important than income in explaining well-being differences between the top and bottom countries. At the individual level, good mental and physical health, someone to count on, job security and stable families are crucial.” “The report shows that, where happiness is measured by how happy • Happier countries tend to be richer countries. But more important for happiness than income are social factors like the strength of social support, the absence of corruption and the degree of personal freedom. Gross National Happiness continued on page 7 2 The following article is about governance in our modern, complicated and diverse world. Although written primarily from the perspective of governance and environmental sustainability and climate change, the analysis applies equally well to the issues of peace and governance. For me, that first sentence of the article reads just as well, is just as important, if it says, “Long before war was ‘the greatest market failure the world has ever seen,’ it was a massive political and governmental failure.” —Medard Gabel Governing for Peace and Sustainability By David W. Orr L If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. ong before the climate crisis was “the greatest market failure the world has ever seen,” it was a massive political and governmental failure. The knowledge that carbon emissions would sooner or later threaten the survival of civilization was known decades ago, but governments have done very little about it relative to the scale, scope, and longevity of the problem. The reasons for their lethargy are many, but one in particular stands out.2 For half a century, a concerted war has been waged against government in Western democracies, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its origins can be traced back to the more virulent strands of classic liberalism once arrayed against the entrenched power of royalty. Its present form was given voice by Ronald Reagan, who reoriented the Republican Party and much of U.S. politics around the idea that “government is the problem,” and by Margaret Thatcher in Britain, who ruled in the conviction that there was “no such thing as society,” only atomized self interests. Other forces and factions joined in an odd alliance of ideologists, media tycoons, corporations, and conservative economists such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. Many other factors contributed to the hollowing out of Western-style governments. Particularly in the United States, wars and excessive military spending contributed greatly to deficits, impoverishment of the public sector, and declining credibility of public institutions. The rise of multinational corporations and the global economy created rival sources of authority and power. Electoral corruption, gerrymandering, and right-wing media contributed to public hostility toward governments, politics, and even the idea of the public good. The Internet helped as well to partition the public into ideological tribes at the expense of a broad and civil public dialogue. But the war against government is not what it is purported to be. Indeed, it is not a war against excessive government at all, but a concerted campaign to reduce only those parts of government dedicated to public welfare, health, education, environment, and infrastructure. But conservatives virtually everywhere support higher military expenditures, domestic surveillance, larger police forces, and exorbitant subsidies for fossil fuel industries and nuclear power along with lower taxes on corporations and the wealthy. The upshot is that the public capacity to solve public problems has diminished sharply, and the power of the private sector, banks, financial institutions, and corporations has risen. As a countervailing and regulatory force, the power of democratic governments has eroded, and with it much of the effectiveness of public institutions to foresee, plan, and act—which is to say, govern. A different pattern has emerged in China, which joins capitalism and authoritarian government. For a time, at least, it has been rather more effective at solving problems associated with rapid growth, building infrastructure, and deploying renewable energy. As the climate and environmental crisis grows, however, so too the traffic jams, air pollution, water shortages, and public dissatisfaction. It remains to be seen whether the marriage of authori- 3 PeaceWork April–May 2015 stand out. First, avoiding the worst that could happen will require sharp reductions of CO2 emissions trending —James Madison1 toward zero by mid-century. We are possibly close to a threshold beyond tarianism and public engagement can work over the which climate change will be uncontrollable no long term.3 matter what we do. To avoid that possibility, we will Elsewhere, the number of failed states with tishave to quickly sequester the remaining reserves of sue-thin governments is growing under the weight fossil fuels that cannot be safely burned. To do so, of population growth, corruption, crime, changing the choices are roughly to: climate, and food shortages. Poverty and the lack a) confiscate fossil fuels from their present ownof basic services, including education, contribute ers; or to a sense of hopelessness that feeds the anger that b) compensate their owners, rather like the Britdrives young men, in particular, into radical groups, ish ended slavery in the Caribbean in the ninefurther threatening stability. The foreseeable future teenth century; offers little respite. We face what John Platt once c) rapidly deploy alternative technologies and thereby render fossil fuels uncompetitive; d) geoengineer the atmosphere in order to lower temperatures and buy us time to think of something better to do; or e) some combination of the above. The particularities and perplexities of various policies aside, if civilization is to last, we must permanently remove reserves of coal, oil, tar sands, and natural gas from the asset side of the economic ledger, but without collapsing the global economy.6 A second and related priority will be to reform the global economy to internalize its full costs and fairly distribute benefits, costs, and risks within and between generations. By one reckoning, a majority of the costs of economic growth has been offloaded on the poor and disadvantaged. Most of the accumulation of CO2 presently in the atmosphere is from the industrialized nations.7 There is little prospect of a peaceful transition to a better future without achieving a much more equitable distribution of wealth in an economic framework calibrated to the laws of entropy and ecology. But that economy will be a great deal more like the “stationary state” predicted by John Stuart Mill in 1848 than the “casino capitalism” or “turbo capitalism” of the post- World War II era. A sustainable and fair economy will be one that pays its full costs, creates no waste, and deals far more in public goods and necessities such as housing, education, called “a crisis of crises,” each amplified by the othpublic infrastructure, and collective goods than in ers. A rapidly warming Earth occupied by 10 bilfinancial speculation and consumerism.8 lion people and 193 nation-states, some armed with A third and related priority will require a signifinuclear weapons, some clinging to ancient religious cant change in how we relate to future generations. and ethnic hatreds, and still others holding fast to Economist Kenneth Boulding once facetiously their economic and political advantages, threatens asked, “What has posterity done for me . . . lately?” the survival of civilization.4 The answer, of course, is “nothing.” But a decent reWarmer and more acidic oceans will be less cagard for posterity is inseparable from our own selfpable of supporting humankind. Massive storms, interest, as Boulding argued. Yet posterity presently rising seas, higher temperatures, and disassemhas little or no legal standing, and so its right to bling ecologies will disrupt food production, public life, liberty, and property exists—if at all—under a health, water systems, urban settlements, transpordarkening shadow of the effects of the behavior of tation, electricity supplies, and the capacity to meet previous generations, mostly our own.9 a growing number of emergencies. Climate destabiWe have long assumed that benefits flowing from lization will grow worse for many decades to come. one generation to the next were overwhelmingly Presuming that we stabilize carbon dioxide (CO2) positive. But that is no longer as true as it once was. levels in the atmosphere by, say, 2050, the effects The burdens imposed by a worsening climate and aswill last for centuries, perhaps millennia, and no sosociated environmental havoc place the lives and forciety, economy, and political system will escape the tunes of our descendants in great jeopardy. They will consequences. That is where we are headed.5 have no defense unless and until foundational enviWhat’s to be done? Of many possibilities, three Governing for Peace and Sustainability cont’d on page 6 Eight Ingredients for a Peaceful Society By Michael Shank W hat makes for a peaceful society? Hot spots from Congo to the Middle East would benefit from such knowledge. But so would the United States, which at home isn’t always so harmonious, and abroad is still at war in Afghanistan. The Institute for Economics and Peace, an international research group, has come up with eight ingredients for more peaceful societies. They’re laid out in a report, “Structures of Peace,” based on the institute’s annual Global Peace Index and more than 300 data sets from around the world. The U.S. does pretty well on five of them, but falls far short on three key ingredients. 1. Government effectiveness REUTERS/Jose Luis Magana According to the institute’s report, “government effectiveness” is measured by quality of public services, civil service, policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government’s commitment to policies. The U.S. falls short on all counts. For example, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that more than $2 trillion is needed to fix U.S. bridges, dams, waterways, and wastewater plants. Meanwhile, just 9 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is handling its job—an all-time low. U.S. tax, trade, and labor policy over the last 30 years has largely failed the American people. You see that in the Occupy protests. The tide is changing however. “Make it in America” is now bipartisan and bicameral and could do wonders for cities once buzzing with manufacturing and industry. The concept of a National Infrastructure Bank for public-private projects is becoming increasingly popular in Washington. 2. Distribution of resources There is a “growing unequal” in America, to borrow a phrase from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Americans now have the highest poverty rate since WWII and the highest income inequality rate since the Great Depression. Data compiled recently by the Economic Policy Institute show that in the last 30 years, the top 1 percent doubled their incomes. Everybody else gained hardly anything. It behooves the US to close its inequality gap because with it comes a host of social-health problems, whether those are high rates of homicide, incarceration, obesity, illness, addiction, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy and low social mobility and life expectancy—which cost in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Improving this situation requires making it easier for Americans to get ahead, get insured, get educated, and get a job. The current tax code benefits asset owners (e.g. low taxes for capital gains) much more than it benefits wage earners. A more fair and distributive tax system would help balance the inequitable scales. 3. High levels of education Considering persistently poor scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, which is given to 15-year-old students by the OECD, America’s mediocre ranking in science, math, and reading has US policymakers scrambling for a fix. A recent example is releasing states from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) standards, allowing them to pursue their own accountability and performance measures. (Half of public schools fail to meet NCLB standards, according to a December report by the Center on Education Policy.) The US needs to go beyond the short-term fixes of voucher programs and charter schools, which may work well for some but neglects others and fails to fix a broken system. The Department of Education’s Equity and Excellence Commission, is a step in the right direction. It uniquely focuses on how education is financed to address disparities in educational opportunity. Meanwhile, a college education is still inaccessible and unaffordable for many. Student debt nearing $1 trillion is testament to this unsustainable trend. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s focus on community colleges and efforts by governors to nationalize core curriculum standards is encouraging. Greater educational opportunity and graduation rates correlate with lower levels of violence (see the US Peace Index) thus requiring fewer state funds to respond to violence. But with presidential candidates queuing to further cut the federal role in education and with congressional deficit reduction agendas targeting education funding, vigilance is vital—America’s economic future depends on it. 4. Five other ingredients America does fairly well on five other factors in the institute’s report: a sound business environment, acceptance of the rights of others, good relations with neighbors, free flow of information, and low levels of corruption. But there’s still much room for improvement. For example, on the “rights of others,” the US has yet to ratify the international treaties related to the rights of the child, the International Criminal Court, and the elimination of discrimination against women. On “corruption” and the perception of corruption, the Occupy Wall Street protests illustrate growing distrust of the financial industry, an industry that can now spend unlimited amounts in federal elections thanks to campaign finance laws weakened by the Supreme Court. On “good relations with neighbors,” America’s ongoing drug and gun wars with Latin America and war and conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, continue to cost taxpayers trillions of dollars. Baby steps on any of these fronts will garner big gains as a more peaceful America (on par with Canada, for example) would yield $361 billion in annual savings and additional economic activity. The investment is worth it. “ Michael Shank is vice-president of The Institute for Economics and Peace and a former senior policy advisor to Democratic Congressman Michael Honda of California. people, has got into the hands of the The government, which was designed for the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.” —Woodrow Wilson PeaceWork April–May 2015 4 Peaceful Government Continued from page 2 of the government. • The level of all the above outside the jurisdiction of the government. Measures of ideal governmental functioning being fulfilled, the environment is being weakened, decision-making is being done by special-interest groups for their benefit, not that of the majority of the people, and people are unhappy. “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.” Measures of governmental • The level of peace and happiness within the jurisdiction of the government • The level of prosperity within the jurisdiction of the government • The opportunities for economic success available to all the citizens within the jurisdiction of the government • The degree of restorative justice implemented and successfully practiced within the jurisdiction of the government • The amount of money a government spends on education, health care and social well being within its jurisdiction • The amount of money a government spends on education, health care and social well being outside its borders; the number and percent of the college educated of a country; the number and percent of citizens who travel outside its borders, and how often it assists in international cooperation, collaboration, disaster relief and sustainable economic development outside the borders and jurisdiction of the government • The degree to which all the above are the metrics are used by all government officials and private citizens to measure the governments performance • The level of all the above outside the jurisdiction of the government. If we measure happiness, rather than Gross National Product, then . . . dysfunction Endnotes wealth and yearly income gap between the superrich (the 1%) and the super super-rich (the .01%) and the average global citizen and the very poor of the world—and this growing gap is a deliberate policy of government policy—is cause for justifiable outrage and in prior historical eras, revolution. It is our responsibility as concerned citizens to make sure that whatever change happens is non-violent. —Confucius Democracy: “A system of government in which all the people of a state . . . are involved in making decisions about its affairs.” “A democracy is measured by the number of secrets that the government keeps from its people.” What does an ideal government look like? Going beyond both the dictionary and the cynical to the ideal—what should a government look like? One answer: A good or ideal government’s decisions, as manifested in its laws, regulations and policies, would be so sensible that they are respected (there is the ‘rule of law’); the government would be accountable, transparent, responsive and exercise foresight. Decision-making at the neighborhood, local, state, national, international and global levels would provide all people with the prerogative of participating in the making of decisions that have an impact on their life, well being and happiness. A good or ideal government would be measured by the degree of societal decision making that all of its citizens exercised, the happiness and health of all it citizens, the sustainability and regenerative capacity of its environment, and its impact on spreading and strengthening peace throughout the world. A government would also be measured by on what and how it spends its money. A government that invests its financial resources in war or the preparation for war (“defense expenditures”) would fail on a scale that placed more value on the long-term health of its citizens, peace in the world and neighborhood, and environmental health. The $1.74 trillion being spent each year in the world on war and the preparation for mass-murder/ war is strong testimony that the performance of many of the governments in the world is fundamentally out of balance with any moral sensibility or economic rationality. The fact that there are over a billion people in the world who are regularly hungry and suffer the consequences of malnutrition, who don’t have access to adequate shelter, health care, education, sanitation, transportation and other amenities that the rich take for granted, makes these expenditures on war and its preparation criminal. The additional fact that there is a growing total 5 PeaceWork April–May 2015 • The level of violence within the jurisdiction of the government • The level of poverty within the jurisdiction of the government (“Poverty is the worst form of violence.” M. Gandhi) • The disparity of wealth between the super-rich and extremely-poor within the jurisdiction of the government • The number of people in prison within the jurisdiction of the government • The amount of money a government spends on “keeping order” within its borders—including police, armaments, courts, correctional facilities • The amount of money a government spends on trying to “keep order” outside its borders; the size of the armed forces of a country, the number and size of its foreign bases and entanglements, and how often armed forces are employed outside the borders and jurisdiction of the government • The amount of chaos and lawlessness within the jurisdiction of the government • The level of unhappiness, including suicide rate, and cases of depression within the jurisdiction 1 Renner, Michael and Prugh, Tom, “Failing Governance, Unsustainable Planet”, in Governing for Sustainability, State of the World 2014, The Worldwatch Institute, 2014. 2 Ibid. Pacem in Terris Board and Staff Board Rev. Mary Browne, Carolyn Bryant, Judith Butler, Joanne Dalecki, Zaida Dore, June Eilsley, Christine Frick, Rev. Bruce Gillette, Janet Lafferty, Luz Maldonado, Chandra Pitts, Olga Ramirez, Mary Starkweather-White, Harvey Zendt Ulster Project Delaware Liaison Elieen Carzo Staff Executive Director Medard Gabel Administrative Assistant Drew Serres Governing for Peace and Sustainability Continued from page 3 ronmental rights are codified in law, solidified as a sistently control themselves because they are deciwill necessarily be, and the more problematic its core value in politics, and embedded in our culture. mated by a plague of corruption that devours the eventual outcome. Other challenges loom ahead. Soon, millions of public interest in virtually every political system. We have entered the rapids of the human journey. people will have to be relocated from sea coasts and It infects the media, economy, banking system, and Whether we can avoid capsizing the frail craft of from increasingly arid and hazardous regions of corporations. This is the fountainhead of our politicivilization or not will depend greatly on our ability Earth. Agriculture everywhere must be made more cal misfortunes, and of most others.14 and that of our descendants to create and sustain resilient and freed of its dependence on fossil fuels. The solution is not so much new government effective, agile, and adaptive forms of governance Emergency response capacities everywhere must be agencies as it is, in political philosopher Alan Rythat persist for very long time spans. One hopes that expanded. The list of necessary actions and precauan’s words, “the slow implementation of better govthese will be strongly democratic, but there is no tionary measures is very long. We are like a ship ernance by weeding out corruption and ignorance.” guarantee that they will be, especially over times sailing into a storm and needing to trim sails, batten And that will require a rigorously enforced sepafar longer than that of the Chinese empire or the hatches, and jettison excess cargo. But how will we ration between money and the conduct of the pubCatholic Church. It’s never been done before. But decide to do comparable things in the conduct of the lic business. The struggle to separate money from that could be said prior to every major human public business?10 policy making and law achievement as well. We have four broad pathways, each with many will, in time, come Endnotes variations. The first is to let the market manage by to be seen rather like the mysterious workings of the proverbial “invisible historic battles against 1 James Madison, It is horrifying that we hand.” There are many purported advantages of dofeudalism, monarchy, “The Federalist No. 51: The ing so. In theory, markets require no political conand slavery.15 Structure of the Government sensus, government programs, or public planning. There is, however, Must Furnish the Proper Checks In the right circumstances, they are agile, creative, a caveat leading to a and Balances Between the Difhave to our own and adaptable. final pathway. Little ferent Departments,” IndepenBut markets always perform far better in neoor no improvement of dent Journal, 6 February 1788. classical textbooks than they do in reality. The truth politics or governance 2 Nicholas Stern, The is that they have a consistently poor record of foreis possible where igEconomics of Climate Change: government the The Stern Review (Cambridge, sight, or concern for the disadvantaged, or fairness, norance, ideological or whales, or grandchildren, or democratic institusuperstitions, and indoU.K.: Cambridge University tions . . . unless it turns a profit. lence reign. Effective Press, 2006), p. xviii. Unsupervised markets work against the interests government, in its vari3 Nicholas Berggruen of the larger society. As Karl Polanyi once warned, ous forms, will require and Nathan Gardels, Intelligent —Ansel Adams Governance for the 21st Century “To allow the market mechanism to be sole director an alert, informed, of the fate of human beings and their natural environecologically literate, (Cambridge, U.K.: Polity ment, indeed, even of the amount and use of purchasthoughtful, and emPress, 2012); David Runciman, ing power, would result in the demolition of society.” pathic citizenry. Whether and to what extent this The Confidence Trap (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University In sum, markets do many things well, but for things will be democratic remains to be seen. The limitaPress, 2013), pp. 318–20. that cannot be priced, they are inept and autistic to tions of democracy as practiced in consumer-orient4 John Platt, “What We Must Do,” Science, 28 November human needs and ecological imperatives.11 ed, corporate-dominated societies are well known. 1969, pp. 115–21. The second alternative is to bolster public instiUnreformed, they will be more debilitating under 5 Lisa-ann Gershwin, Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the tutions and governments at all levels. Indeed, in the the conditions we will experience in the twenty-first Future of the Ocean (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, face of climate change, sub-national governments century. 2013); Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are becoming more agile with alliances between But our past successes, notably those of World Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, Contristates, provinces, and regions. Cities are coming toWar II and the Cold War, have bred overconfidence bution of IPCC Working Group I (Cambridge, U.K.: 2013). gether in creative ways to implement climate actions that democracies will succeed in dealing with an en6 Adam Hochschild, Bury the Chains (Boston: Houghton that presently cannot be taken at national levels. tirely different kind of threat, one with time-lags beMifflin, 2005). The results are oftween causes and 7 U. Thara Srinivasan et al., “The Debt of Nations and Disten more effective, effects and with tribution of Ecological Impacts from Human Activities,” cheaper, and better deadlines beyond Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 105, fitted to particular which loom irreno. 5 (2008), pp. 1,768–73. If the of government vocable, irrevers- 8 John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy (London: situations than national policies. Netible, and wholly Longmans, Green, and Co., 1848/1940), pp. 746–51. works of agencies adverse changes. 9 Kenneth E. Boulding, “The Economics of the Coming is of such a nature that it and nongovernmenRelative to climate Spaceship Earth,” presented at the Sixth Resources for tal organizations change, David the Future Forum on Environmental Quality in a Growing stitched together Runciman writes Economy, Washington, DC, 8 March 1966. by electronic media that the “long10White House Council on Environmental Quality, “Preparyou to be the agent are capable of rapid term strengths [of ing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change,” interdisciplinary redemocracies], if Executive Order (Washington, DC: November 2013). sponses to the chalanything, make it 11Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation (Boston: Beacon, lenges. But ineviharder. 1967/1944), p. 73. of to another, then, tably, these efforts That is why 12Michael Wines, “Climate Pact Is Signed by 3 States and are limited because climate change is a Partner,” New York Times, 30 October 2013; Sadhu A. they are contingent so dangerous for Johnston, Steven S. Nicholas, and Julia Parzen, The Guide on the powers and democracies. It to Greening Cities (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2013); I say, the policies associrepresents the poBruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, The Metropolitan Revo—Henry David Thoreau tentially fatal verated with sovereign lution (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2013); national governsion of the [over] Parag Khanna, “The End of the Nation-State?” New York ments.12 confidence trap.”16 Times, 12 October 2013. A third pathway, then, is to create and maintain Even so, is a new birth of democracy possible? Is 13James Howard Kunstler, The Long Emergency: Surviving effective, agile, accountable, and democratic central it possible to create new and more effective forms the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century governments. Centralized governments alone have of citizenship in the twenty-first century? Is it pos(New York: Grove Press, 2006). the capacity to respond at the scale necessary to efsible to use television and the Internet to organize 14Madison, op. cit. note 1. fect changes appropriate to the “long emergency.” an active and strongly democratic society, from 15Alan Ryan, On Politics, vol. 2 (New York: Liveright PubThey alone can wage war, grant or withhold rights, neighborhoods to planetary politics? Is it possible lishing, 2012), p. 1,010. control currencies, manage fiscal policies, respond for nongovernmental organizations and diverse, 16Runciman, op. cit. note 3, p. 316. Chapter 1. Failing Goverto large-scale crises, regulate commerce, and encross-cultural citizen networks to accomplish what nance, Unsustainable Planet ter into binding international agreements. With represent forms of politics and governance cannot do? David W. Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Enspect to climate change, only central governments Time will tell. vironmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College. can effectively price or control carbon for an entire What we do know is that citizens, networks, The above article is from State of the World 2014, by The Worldcountry. Only effective central governments can corporations, regional affiliations, nongovernmenwatch Institute. Copyright © 2014 Worldwatch Institute. Recommand the resources required to mobilize entire tal organizations, and central governments will all produced by permission of Island Press, Washington, D.C. societies.13 have to play their parts. The twenty-first century But a yawning chasm exists between current perand beyond is all-hands-on-deck time for humanformance and the quality of governance necessary kind. We have no time for further procrastination, “We have the best to meet the exigencies of the long emergency ahead. evasion, and policy mistakes. We must now mobigovernment that money As James Madison put it, “The great difficulty is lize society for a rapid transition to a low-carbon this: You must first enable the government to confuture. The longer we wait to deal with the climate can buy.” trol the governed; and in the next place, oblige it crisis and all that it portends, the larger the eventual —Mark Twain to control itself.” Governments today cannot congovernment intrusion in the economy and society “ fight to save environment.” “ machine requires injustice break law.” PeaceWork April–May 2015 6 Gross National Happiness • Over time as living standards have risen, happiness has increased in some countries, but not in others (like for example, the United States). On average, the world has become a little happier in the last 30 years (by 0.14 times the standard deviation of happiness around the world). • Unemployment causes as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation. At work, job security and good relationships do more for job satisfaction than high pay and convenient hours. • Behaving well makes people happier. • Mental health is the biggest single factor affecting happiness in any country. Yet only a quarter of mentally ill people get treatment for their condition in advanced countries and fewer in poorer countries. • Stable family life and enduring marriages are important for the happiness of parents and children. • In advanced countries, women are happier than men, while the position in poorer countries is mixed. • Happiness is lowest in middle age. Worldwide survey data was used to look at the factors that truly make people happy. Income of course matters, but mainly to the poor. When people are hungry, deprived of basic needs such as clean water, health care and education, and without meaningful employment, they indeed suffer. Economic development that alleviates poverty is a vital step in boosting happiness. Continued from page 2 consumerism, shopping sprees, TV spectaculars, gambling, food, sex, drugs, you name it—are not the path to a sustained high level of happiness. Indeed, he says, incessant sensory stimuli are the path to exhaustion, not happiness! Sustained high-level happiness, he says, in line with the Buddha’s teachings, arises from compassion, altruism and giving rather than receiving. This is not just rhetoric, either in Ricard’s own remarkable case or more generally. The power of altruism to promote happiness in the giver has been demonstrated over and over again. Even the neuroscientists have shown it in their clinical experiments. But income of course is only one among many factors that explain the keys to happiness, something that is well known to everybody, except perhaps some Wall Street types and some economists. Other key sources of happiness include social support networks (friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, classmates), a low level of corruption in government and business (obviously a point of U.S. failure relative to many other high-income countries), and personal freedom and security from violence and lawlessness. Having a good job is also extremely important to individual and societal happiness. Mental health is also a crucial source of happiness. We should be doing much more to ensure that people have access to mental health services when they need them. That would indeed boost wellbeing for many people otherwise in great distress. There is another key to happiness. The great Buddhist monk, teacher and writer, Matthieu Ricard reminds us that sensory stimuli —such as “Let us reinforce our commitment to inclusive and sustainable human development and renew our pledge to help others. When we contribute to the common good, we ourselves are enriched. Compassion promotes happiness and will help build the future we want.” —UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Jeffrey D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. Book Review Digital Humanitarians How Big Data Is Changing the Face of Humanitarian Responses By Patrick Meier Publisher: CRC Press, 2015 Digital Humanitarians, published in 2015, looks at how ordinary citizens, plus new technology and new uses of that technology, along with large quantities of digital data, are transforming the way societies deal with humanitarian disasters. And seeing how disasters are a reoccurring, but unpredictable, part of our global society, this work has a growing relevance to the overall state of the world, to those victimized by the latest natural or man made disaster, and those of us who want to help. Using his own experiences with the Haitian earthquake, Meier shows how a small group of digitally savvy students (and others), far removed from the actual site of disaster, were able to 7 PeaceWork April–May 2015 quickly put together a map of disaster sites that guided disaster relief teams from the UN, U.S. and a host of government and nongovernmental agencies, to get to trapped, injured and homeless victims before it was too late. Using existing online maps as a stating point, coupling this with satellite and aerial photos, and then combining live twitter feeds from people on the ground in Haiti, Meier and a growing army of around-the-world-volunteers (“crowdsourcing”) were able to develop maps so accurate that their work became the standard reference for all rescue and development assistance. That the group was able to do this without ever setting foot in Haiti is testimony to the power of the global communications network that interlinks us all. Digital Humanitarians shows how nonstate networks of civil society can play an important role in global problem solving by enabling ordinary citizens to collaborate and save lives, using new technology in creative ways. As Meier states, “Technology need not be dehumanizing. As digital humanitarians in Haiti ably demonstrated, these new connection technologies can extend and amplify our humanity, can translate our initial private emotions of sadness and powerlessness into public—indeed global—action to help others thousands of miles away.” Check out DigitalHumanitarians.com for the latest volunteer opportunities. UPCOMING EVENTS MEETINGS April 2015 Wilmington in Transition (WIT) 3 Friday, 3:00–6:00 pm, Good Friday Walk, sponsored by the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew. People of all faiths (or of none) are welcome to participate in an Urban Way of the Cross—a journey through the streets of Wilmington: a time to remember, to mourn, and to pray. It begins outside the William “Hicks” Anderson Community Center at 3:00 pm (501 N. Madison Street) and finishes at The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew (719 N. Shipley Street) at 4:30 pm, where there will be praise, prayer, and music. 11 Saturday, 8:00 am–3:00 pm Girls Can Do Anything! event sponsored by One Village Alliance, for girls ages 9–18, at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, 100 N Dupont Rd, Wilmington, DE 19805. 26 Sunday March and Peace Festival. New York City. Coordinated by the Coalition for Peace Action. For more information e-mail cfpa@ peacecoalition.org or call 215.480.7744 29–May 3 Ending Mass Incarceration and the New Jim Crow conference. Keynote speaker: Michelle Alexander. Pendle Hill, 338 Plush Mill Rd., Wallingford, PA. More info. www.pendlehill.org/events/endingmass-incarceration-new-jim-crow June 21–29 Global Solutions Lab. Learn more at www.designsciencelab.com Other groups (check with them) Delaware 3 Monday of every month, 7 pm, Pacem In Terris office, 401 N. West St. Wilmington, DE 19801. Call 302.656.2721. rd ACLU of Delaware For info, visit www.aclu-de.org Americans for Democratic Action, Delaware Chapter For info, visit http://delawareada.org/ ·· April 20 ·· May 18 ·· June 15 Wilmington in Transition Food Group 4th Monday of the month at 7 pm, Woodlawn Library, 2020 W 9th St, Wilmington, DE 19805. ·· April 27 ·· May 25 ·· June 22 Wilmington in Transition/ DE Hour Exchange 1st Thursday of the month at 6 pm, Brew Ha Ha! in the Main St. Galleria, Newark. ·· April 2 ·· May 7 ·· June 4 rd 3 Thursday of the month at 7pm, Lucky’s Coffee Shop on Concord Pike, Wilmington. ·· April 16 ·· May 21 ·· June 18 (These might be changing, so please check for updates on the www.witde.org calendar.) DE Citizens Opposed to the Death Penalty (DCADP) 4th Monday of each month at 5:30 pm, Pacem in Terris office, Wilmington Friends Meetinghouse, 401 N. West St. Wilmington, DE 19801. Call 302.656.2721. ·· April 27 ·· May 25 ·· June 22 30-July 28 Ulster Project Delaware. Learn more at www.ulsterprojectdelaware.org Amnesty International, Delaware Chapter For info, call Eric Merlino at 302.764.5480 Wilmington PeaceKeepers For info, call 302.559.9730 or visit wilmingtonpeacekeepers.weebly.com Maryland Center for Conflict Resolution For info, call 410.219.2873 or visit www.conflict-resolution.org Pennsylvania Brandywine Peace Community For info, call 610.544.1818 or visit www.brandywinepeace.com Philadelphia Amnesty International Meets the fourth Thursday of each month, 7 pm at Philadelphia Ethical Society, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA. For info, visit amnestyeastpa.org/localgroups Chester County Amnesty International For info, visit amnestyeastpa.org/localgroups Pacem in Terris office Wilmington Friends Meetinghouse 401 N. West St. Wilmington, DE 19801 302.656.2721 www.depaceminterris.org “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.” —Abraham Lincoln Bequests A Pacem in Terris Directory Pacem in Terris appreciates bequests and donations from supporters. These gifts help ensure our financial stability and demonstrate your belief that our work is valuable and should continue. To designate a tax-deductible bequest to Pacem in Terris, we suggest using the following language: In order to help you find your niche in Pacem we are listing the contact information for our various projects. Please call or email if you would like to participate: Pacem in Terris programs, call 302.656.2721: Pacem Education: Making it Better—nonviolent conflict resolution, World Peace Game, Pacem Leadership Development, Climate Change Game. depaceminterris.org; Contact: [email protected] Global Solutions Lab: www.designsciencelab.com DE Citizens Opposed to the Death Penalty: enddeathpenaltyde.org New Beginnings/Next Steps: www.facebook.com/pages/New-Beginnings-Next-Step/1442984719262551 Young Peacemakers: Contact Drew Serres, [email protected] Campaign Against Gun Violence: [email protected] PeaceSeekers: Contact: [email protected] PeaceWorks weekly email newsletter Ulster Project Delaware: ulsterprojectdelaware.org; Contact: [email protected] Wilmington in Transition and DE Hour Exchange: www.witde.org; Contact Laura Philon, [email protected] I hereby bequeath to Delaware Pacem in Terris, Inc., a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization, with its principal offices at 401 N. West Street, Wilmington, DE 19801-2137, and its successors, the sum of $_____ [or ___ percentage of the estate], for its general purposes. However, we strongly recommend consulting an attorney when writing or preparing your estate plans. For more information about making a planned gift to Pacem in Terris, please contact Pacem in Terris, at 302.656.2721. PeaceWork April–May 2015 8 M IN MA W IL M DE 401 N. West Street Wilmington, DE 19801-2137 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED June 21–29, 2015 Join the 2015 Global Solutions Lab ED FRO IL NON-Profit U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 361 2 2 3 4 7 8 8 8 Editor: Research: Layout: Distribution: April–May 2015 Vol. 33, No. 2 PeaceWork is published five times a year. Volunteers for writing, publishing and distribution are welcome. The editor invites your comments. Call Pacem in Terris at 302.656.2721, email [email protected]. Medard Gabel Drew Serres Mary Helgesen Gabel Pat Bartoshesky, Judy Butler, Alice Davis, Dorothy Medeiros, Jerry Northington, Mary StarkweatherWhite, Kathleen Worth, Kevin Marshall PeaceWork www.depaceminterris.org PeaceWork The Peace in Government Issue In this issue . . . Peaceful Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gross National Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . Governing for Peace and Sustainability . . . Eight Ingredients for a Peaceful Society . . . Book Review: Digital Humanitarians . . . . . UPCOMING EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MEETINGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Join Pacem ❏ $20 investment gets Annual Membership which includes a one-year subscription to PeaceWork. (If you cannot afford the $20, contribute what you can). 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