Following the Green Way to Peace
Penny Kemp and Derek Wall
Real defence rests on the creation of real security and the establishment of a peaceful world order. While millions of people are without access to food, clean water, shelter or basic educational facilities there is bound to be conflict. World peace must go hand in hand with world development. There are rational reasons for the most irrational of wars. Poverty is perhaps the most important. If half the globe starves, there is bound to vast unrest. If the money spent on arms were transferred to development spending to end such poverty and injustice , there would be far less pressure to propel conflict. We should be spending on peace instead of war. Making it possible for everybody in the world to have access to food, shelter and basic goods would be the best security for all of us.
Peace cannot be just the absence of war. We must rethink our attitudes and values. Peace requires genuine trust, co-operation, mutual support and the free exchange of information. It means material security for all the worlds people, regardless of sex, colour or age. It means realising that we are all one, only now some have more advantages than others. Any defence that does not promote trust and security is increasing, rather than reducing the risk of war. Disarmament must be an intrinsic part of a world-wide movement towards a sustainable economic, social and political order.
Peace will not be an easy option, but it is possible. For a long time the world has been dominated by militarism in its efforts to procure peace. Any policy designed to create a peaceful world needs to break down the power structures so beloved by politicians and generals and give back to the people the incentive to find the inner core of peace that is within us all. Millions of people the world over are part of a grass roots peace movement, and it is this uniting force that can change the destructive forces that are in evidence today.
