One look around the world is more than enough to convince a reasonable person that humanity has made some great strides in the technology and efficiency of the brutality of war.
Africa is besieged by war and bloody rebellion while Israel and Palestine teeter on the brink of war as armed conflict continues to cause bloodshed. Battles in Macedonia mark the sixth time there have been conflicts between former Yugoslav states. Those are just a few of the examples of the great power of war and its ability to bring a world to its knees.
But with the tragedy of technology’s focus on the carnal abilities for anger and petty disputes to consume the livelihood of so many clearly demonstrated, is it now time to draw focus to a more humane and compassionate aspect of civil society. That doesn’t mean that you have to start hugging trees, though the Ponderosa Pine does smell like vanilla and is rather pleasant to hug. And it doesn’t mean you have to be involved in some meditations on the triangle, although it seems to have worked for the Lakers.
Instead we should all start to focus on a more ingenious plan: the creation of a Department of Peace.
Actually the Department of Peace is by no means a new idea. In 1783, George Washington wrote that he expected Congress would set up some sort of "proper Peace Establishment." Since 1935, there have been bills presented in Congress that have purposed some kind of national position to work on the ideals of peace.
The latest proponent of the idea is Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who proposed a bill to create an official cabinet position and Department of Peace. Kucinich said he began to think of a Department of Peace in the spring of 1999, as he watched the NATO-led bombing of Yugoslavia unfold in tandem with violence at home, such as the Columbine High School shooting that left 15 dead.
"Reflecting on this, the spirit of our times, I started to ask some basic questions – questions I'm sure millions of Americans ask every day," Kucinich said. "Is violence inevitable? Is war inevitable? Is there any way we can pursue a path of transformation? So I decided to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our society."
Kucinich wants to pursue the notion of peace in both international venues and in domestic situations arguing that human rights violations and brutality are our concern no matter where they take place.
The idea is interesting and it’s good too. With all of the time and energy we spend on creating war and advancing its cause, it is now time to try to prevent it and solve some of the injustice that occurs in the world.
Kucinich is only asking for one percent of the funding that is currently supplied for the Department of Defense, which is now at an astronomical $343 billion in the Bush Administration's 2002 budget request. One percent of that would make for $3.4 billion. For comparison, the entire Russian military budget is only about $8.35 billion.
The money would be used to address domestic violence – from spousal abuse to child abuse – and to tackle school violence, racial or ethnic violence, and police-community disputes.
In foreign affairs, Secretaries of Defense and State would be required to consult with the Secretary of Peace before entering into military conflict and during all treaty negotiations. The Secretary of Peace would also sit on the National Security Council. The Secretary would administer a force of civilian peacekeepers for operations abroad and would work to mediate international conflicts. The department would take over, among other things, the Peace Corps and the international arms control work of the State Department.
In doing so the organization could codify many of the smaller organizations and direct them to a more universal approach to resolving the abuses that occur in the world.
The Department could also resolve many problems. Military personnel, who do not have necessary training to deal with problems in maintaining peace abroad, would be replaced by professional peacekeepers. Peace keeping personnel would be far more effective at sustaining peace than troops who are trained for war.
The Department would also establish a four-year Peace Academy modeled after our military academies. Peace Academy graduates would be required to work five years in a public service promoting nonviolence, allowing the pursuit of other venues for reform that could pave the way for future social movements.
To find the argument for the need of such a movement in our civil society, you don’t have to look any farther than the founding document of our independence. In the Declaration of Independence, it is enumerated that people are endowed with certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Maybe its time that we step up to the plate and acted in recognition of the rights that are the foundation of this country.
The Department of Peace might sound like a hippie idea but that kind of mocking attitude was directed to this nation as we pursued a nation founded on the principle of democracy. With all of the time and money that we spend on war is it really difficult to understand why there is so much of it in the world.
John Parsi is a political science senior. Reach him at theparsi@hotmail.com.
