Investing in World Peace
ARTS, 14 Feb 2011
Susan Carew (aka Peacefull Clown) - TRANSCEND Media Service
A Poem
Peace is not in the investment portfolio,
Peace is not a futures option,
Peace is not profitable,
Yet we all profit from peace.
The mechanism of supply and demand,
Market wants rather than needs,
It is how we determine value.
Wealth becomes reward,
Status becomes success,
Belonging is part of the club,
For when one is seen to be,
The wheels of industry keep turning.
For the industrial military complex is a valued asset,
It is a psychological complex deeply divided,
A million dollars a minute is the investment portfolio that yields real returns,
Profits over people,
Pain over conflict resolution,
As we build smart bombs that discriminate,
We explode bunker busters (mini nukes) that cause cancer,
We destroy whole cities to maximize shock and burn tactics,
We build unmanned drones to minimize body bags for CNN,
We place power in the service of force,
And in the end we bill this as another peace process,
Yet this is not the true face of peace,
Peace comes in service as a true friend,
For the benefit of all.
Peace education is investing in your children
It is an intangible,
An untouchable,
It can’t be displayed as an act of pride,
For the value cannot be seen as a medium of exchange,
It is generated through gentle acts of kindness,
It is built through positive affirmation of ourselves and each other,
Through responding, caring, nurturing,
Sounds like a motherhood statement,
For there is seldom recognition in real service with a smile,
Which is how you know best interest is placed above self interest,
Self interest will always promote itself and justify cruel acts.
For when we value honesty over deception,
When we value working together rather than causing division for the other is wrong,
When we value freedom of speech over differing perspectives as democracy,
When we value what is real rather than material gain,
We will find peace emerges as a pearl from the hard shell,
We see the purpose rather than plan,
We feel the enjoyment rather than yield,
For one does not need profit to motivate when the reward is the service itself.
For what we truly value we invest in,
Peace is the middle path that is inclusive,
For there are no winners or losers,
There are no failures or successes,
Simply differences that reflect diversity,
Where the level playing field is seen as equal opportunity,
There is no superiority or inferiority,
When every person is unique.
For peace is non discriminating,
For it will never argue to win,
Simply learn from opponents as teachers,
As this is the spirit of acceptance,
It is the 4 noble truths,
It is the 4 way test of truth, fairness, goodwill, friendship and true benefit,
For this is the free market not for sale,
As peace is the only investment that is sustainable if we are to have a future to invest in.
_____________________
Susan Carew is a Rotary Peace Scholar (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok), a Peace Studies Graduate (La Trobe University, Melbourne) and a World Peace Clown, all rolled into one. She is also a poet and a philosopher and you are welcome to go to her blog on www.worldpeacefull.com.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 14 Feb 2011.
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