Articles by Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D.
We found 201 results.
500 Years Is Long Enough! Human Depravity in the Congo
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2018
I would like to tell you something about human depravity and illustrate just how widespread it is among those we often regard as ‘responsible’ and am going to use the Democratic Republic of the Congo as my example. As I illustrate and explain what has happened to the Congo and its people during the past 500 years, I invite you to consider my essential point.
→ read full articleConflict Theory and Biosphere Annihilation
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 May 2018
I would like to explain the psychological origin of this biosphere-annihilating conflict and how this origin has nurtured the incredibly destructive aspects of capitalism (and socialism, for that matter) from the beginning. I would also like to explain what we can do about it.
→ read full articleChallenges for Resolving Complex Conflicts
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Apr 2018
While conflict theories and resolution processes advanced dramatically during the second half of the 20th century, particularly thanks to the important work of several key scholars such as Professor Johan Galtung, significant gaps remain in the conflict literature on how to deal with particular conflict configurations. Notably, these include the following four.
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Nonviolence or Nonexistence? The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Apr 2018
2 Apr 2018 – Fifty years ago, on 4 April 1968, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The night before he died, King gave another of his many evocative speeches; this one at the packed Mason Temple in Memphis. The speech included these words: ‘Men for years now have been talking about war and peace. Now no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and non-violence in this world, it is non-violence or non-existence. That is where we are today.’
→ read full article‘The Global Elite Is Insane’ Revisited
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 – In 2014 I wrote an article titled ‘The Global Elite Is Insane’. I want to elaborate what I explained in the earlier article so that people have a clearer sense of what we are up against in our struggle to create a world of peace, justice and ecological sustainability.
→ read full articleOn Track for Extinction: Can Humanity Survive?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Mar 2018
8 Mar 2018 – The climate is not the only imminent threat to human survival. With an insane leadership in the White House we are faced with the prospect of nuclear war. And even if the climate and nuclear threats to our survival are removed, there is still a substantial range of environmental threats: rainforest destruction, the ongoing dumping of Fukushima radiation into the Pacific Ocean, extensive contamination from military violence…
→ read full articleThe Fear Driving US Nuclear Strategy
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Feb 2018
The US Department of Defense released its latest ‘Nuclear Posture Review 2018’ on 2 February. Several authors have already thoughtfully exposed a phenomenal variety of obvious lies, invented threats, strategic misconceptions and flaws – such as the fallacious thinking behind ‘deterrence’ and significantly increased risk of nuclear war given the delusional ‘thinking’ in the document – as well as the political fear-mongering in the NPR. So what can we do? Well, I would tackle the problem at several levels and I invite you to consider participating in one or more of these.
→ read full articleWhy Fear and Self-hatred Destroy Human Sharing and Solidarity
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Jan 2018
24 Jan 2018 – The lack of solidarity is utterly pervasive and readily evident in our lacklustre official and personal responses to the many ongoing crises in which humanity finds itself. To mention just the most obvious: Every day governments spend $US2 billion on weapons and warfare while a billion people lack the basic resources to live a decent life (and more than 100,000 of these people starve to death)… So what can we do?
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To Liberate Cambodia
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 – Cambodian activists require enormous courage to take nonviolent action as the possibility of violent state repression in response to popular mobilization is a real one. So what can Cambodians do? Fortunately, there is a long history of repressive regimes being overthrown by nonviolent grassroots movements. And nonviolent action has proven powerfully effective in Cambodia with Buddhist monk Maha Gosananda.
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(Français) Tuer la biosphère pour accélérer l’extinction humaine
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. | Prepare for Change – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Jan 2018
Il y a plusieurs années au Cameroun, un pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest, un rhinocéros noir occidental a été tué. C’était le dernier de son genre sur Terre.
→ read full articleViolence against Women: Why the UN Secretary-General Got It Wrong
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Dec 2017
6 Dec 2017 – In his remarks on the recent International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women UN Secretary-General António Guterres inadvertently demonstrated why well-meaning efforts being undertaken globally to reduce violence against women fail to make any progress in addressing this pervasive crisis.
→ read full articleKilling the Biosphere to Fast-track Human Extinction
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Dec 2017
Unless and until you make a conscious personal decision to participate strategically in the struggle to save life on Earth, you will be one of those individuals who kills the biosphere as a byproduct of living without awareness and commitment. So next time you ponder the fate of humanity, which is inextricably tied to the fate of the Earth, it might be worth considering the unparalleled beauty of what Earth has generated.
→ read full articleWhy Are Police in the USA So Terrified?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Nov 2017
15 Nov 2017 – For those who follow news in the United States, the routine killing of innocent civilians by the police has become a national crisis despite concerted attempts by political and legal authorities and the corporate media to obscure what is happening. So far this year, US police have killed 1,044 people. In contrast, from 1990 to 2016, police in England and Wales killed just 62 people. So why are the police so violent? you might ask.
→ read full articleA Nonviolent Strategy to End Violence and Avert Human Extinction
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Oct 2017
24 Oct 2017 – Around the world activists who are strategic thinkers face a daunting challenge to effectively tackle the multitude of violent conflicts, including the threat of human extinction, confronting human society in the early 21st century… Given the overwhelming violence that we must tackle, can we succeed? I do not know but I intend to fight, strategically, to the last breath. I hope that you will too.
→ read full articleThe Psychology of Mass Killers: What Causes It? How Can You Prevent It?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Oct 2017
While there has been a flood of commentary on the incident, including suggestions about what might be done in response based on a variety of analyses of the cause, none that I have read explain the underlying cause of all these mass killings. And if we do not understand this, then any other suggestions, whatever their apparent merits, can have little impact.
→ read full articleGandhi’s Truth: Ending Human Violence One Commitment at a Time
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Oct 2017
Gandhi Jayanti – 2 October, the date of Mohandas K. Gandhi’s birth in 1869 and the International Day of Nonviolence – offers an opportunity to reflect on human violence and to ponder ways to end it. There may be a fast way to end human violence but, if there is, Gandhi did not know it. Nor do I. Nor does anyone else that I have read or asked either. But this does not mean there is no way to end human violence.
→ read full article(Italiano) La verità di Gandhi: porre fine alla violenza umana, un passo alla volta
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. | Centro Studi Sereno Regis – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Oct 2017
La ricorrenza di Gandhi Jayanti – il 2 Ottobre, offre l’opportunità di riflettere sulla violenza umana e di prendere in considerazione dei modi per porle fine. Ci può essere una via rapida per metter fine alla violenza umana, ma – se c’è – Gandhi non la conosceva. Né la conosco io. E neppure altri di cui ho letto o che ho interpellato. Ma questo non vuol dire che non ci siano vie per porre fine alla violenza umana.
→ read full articleProfit Maximization Is Easy: Invest in Violence
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Sep 2017
6 Sep 2017 – For those of us committed to systematically reducing and, one day, ending human violence, it is vital to understand what is causing and driving it so that effective strategies can be developed for dealing with violence in its myriad contexts… Of course, these choices aren’t for everyone. As Gandhi observed: ‘Cowards can never be moral.’
→ read full articleWhy Are All Those Racists So Terrified?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Aug 2017
Racism – fear of, and hatred for, those of another race coupled with the beliefs that the other race is inferior and should be dominated (by your race) – is now highly visible among European populations impacted by refugee flows from the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, racism is ongoingly and highly evident among sectors of the US population but also in countries like South Africa as well as Australia and throughout Central and South America where indigenous populations are particularly impacted.
→ read full articleBiological Annihilation on Earth Accelerating
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
31 Jul 2017
26 Jul 2017 – Human beings are now waging war against life itself as we continue to destroy not just individual lives, local populations and entire species in vast numbers but also destroy the ecological systems that make life on Earth possible.
→ read full articleWhy War? Building on the Legacy of Einstein, Freud and Gandhi
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Jul 2017
In 1932, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein conducted a correspondence subsequently published under the title ‘Why War?’ In many ways, this dialogue between two giants of the 20th century is symbolic of the effort made by many humans to understand the institution of war. In a recent article, the founder of peace research, Professor Johan Galtung, reminded us of the legacy of Freud and Einstein and reflected on their dialogue, noting some shortcomings including their failure to ‘unpack conflict’.
→ read full articleA Nonviolent Strategy to Defeat Genocide
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 – It is a tragic measure of the depravity of human existence that genocide is a continuing and prevalent manifestation of violence in the international system. It is not difficult to nonviolently defend a targeted population against genocide. Vitally, however, it requires a leadership that can develop a sound strategy so that people are mobilized and deployed effectively.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to People with ‘Mental Health’ Issues
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Jun 2017
So if you or someone you know is supposed to have a ‘mental illness’ such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, anorexia nervosa or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I would like to give you the opportunity to consider an explanation and a way forward that you are unlikely to have come across.
→ read full articleTruth or Delusion?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 May 2017
22 May 2017 – One inevitable outcome of the phenomenal violence we all suffer as children is that most of us live in a state of delusion throughout our lives. This makes it extraordinarily difficult for accurate information, including vital information about the endangered state of our world and how to respond appropriately, to penetrate the typical human mind.
→ read full article(Castellanto) Colaboración internacional para poner fin a la violencia
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 May 2017
Mientras gran parte del mundo está envuelto en violencia de uno u otro tipo (ya sea violencia en el hogar o en la calle, explotación, destrucción ecológica o la guerra), una red global de individuos y organizaciones se han comprometido a ponerle fin a la violencia en todas sus manifestaciones.
→ read full articleInternational Collaboration to End Violence
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Apr 2017
24 Apr 2017 – While much of the world is engulfed in violence of one sort or another (whether violence in the home or on the street, exploitation, ecological destruction or war), a global network of individuals and organizations is committed to ending this violence in all of its manifestations. Here is an outline of what some of these individual signatories of ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’ are doing. You are welcome to join them.
→ read full articleWhy Do Some Men Rape?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Mar 2017
Given the overwhelming evidence that violence is rampant in our world and that the violence of the legal system simply contributes to and reinforces this cycle of violence, it seems patently obvious that we would be better off identifying the cause of violence and then designing approaches to address this cause and its many symptoms effectively. And reallocating resources away from the legal and prison systems in support of approaches that actually work.
→ read full articleResisting Donald Trump’s Violence Strategically
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Mar 2017
So what are we to do? Well, if you are inclined to resist the diabolical actions of Donald Trump (and his insane and violent equivalents in the United States and other countries around the world), I invite you to respond powerfully. This includes maintaining a large measure of empathy for the emotionally damaged individual who is now president of the US (and his many equivalents). It also includes recognizing that this individual and his equivalents are the current ‘face’ of a global system of violence and exploitation built on many long-standing structures that we must systematically dismantle.
→ read full articleNonviolent Action: Why and How It Works
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Jan 2017
Nonviolent action is extremely powerful. Unfortunately, however, activists do not always understand why nonviolence is so powerful and they design ‘direct actions’ that are virtually powerless. I would like to start by posing two questions.
→ read full article(Turkish-Türk) Yeryüzünde Yaşam Sona Eriyor. Binlerce Tür Yok Oluyor
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. | Özgür Üniversite – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Jan 2017
Sizin bu yazıyı okuduğunuz gün, yeryüzünde 200 türün ( bitki, kuş, hayvan, balık, amfibi, böcek, sürüngen ) varlığı ortadan kalkmış olacak. Ertesi gün bir 200 tür daha sonsuza kadar yok olmuş olacak.
→ read full articleLife on Earth Is Dying
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Dec 2016
The human onslaught to destroy life is unprecedented in Earth’s history. Planet Earth is now experiencing its sixth mass extinction event and Homo sapiens sapiens is the cause… One of the hidden tragedies of modern human existence is that we have been terrorized into believing that we are not personally responsible. And every time you decide to do nothing and to leave it to someone else, you demonstrate why no-one else should do anything either.
→ read full articleNonviolence for Brazilians: Suggested Direct Actions
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
As I see and read about the ongoing massive protests, as well as calls by prominent community leaders to mobilize in defense of your country’s democracy, I feel great hope for Brazil. Having been a nonviolent activist for many years, I would like to support Brazilian activists to develop a nonviolent strategy that will increase your chances of success.
→ read full articleSeeking the True Path
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Nov 2016
One of the more subtle manifestations of the intimate link between (unconscious) human emotions and behaviour is illustrated by the simple concept of choice and how this is so often reduced to a dichotomy between two bad options. In such circumstances, most people choose whatever they consider to be ‘the lesser evil’.
→ read full articleA Nonviolent Strategy to Liberate Syria
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Nov 2016
It is the responsibility of the struggle’s strategic leadership to ensure that each of the strategic goals, which should be identified and prioritized according to their precise understanding of the circumstances in Syria, is being addressed. So here is a set of strategic goals to end the war in/on Syria.
→ read full article(Português) Carta Aberta aos Ativistas Brasileiros
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Nov 2016
A julgar pelos protestos que têm sido noticiados, bem como pelas mobilizações por influentes líderes comunitários em defesa da democracia, nutro grandes esperanças pelo Brasil. Tendo sido um ativista da não-violência por muitos anos, gostaria de oferecer o meu apoio para que os ativistas brasileiros possam desenvolver uma estratégia não-violenta que irá aumentar suas chances de sucesso.
→ read full articleA Nonviolent Strategy to End the Climate Catastrophe
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Oct 2016
As the evidence mounts that we are fast approaching the final point-of-no-return beyond which it will be impossible to take sufficient effective action to prevent climate catastrophe – the evidence of ineffective official responses climbs too. So what are we to do?
→ read full articleAfter the Coup: Nonviolent Strategic Actions for Brazilians
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Oct 2016
As I see and read about the ongoing massive protests, as well as calls by prominent community leaders to mobilize in defense of your country’s democracy, I feel great hope for Brazil. Having been a nonviolent activist for many years, I would like to support Brazilian activists to develop a nonviolent strategy that will increase your chances of success. Please read on.
→ read full articleGandhi: ‘My Life Is My Message’
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Oct 2016
Gandhi’s life was dotted with many memorable quotes but one that is less well known is this: ‘You may never know what results come of your actions but if you do nothing there will be no results’. Fortunately, there are many committed people who have identified the importance of taking action to end the violence in our world – whether it occurs in the home or on the street, in wars, as a result of economic exploitation or ecological destruction – and this includes the courageous people below.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to the People of the United States: Election or Revolution?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 Sep 2016
To reiterate: I am not saying ‘Don’t vote and do nothing’ (as so many people do already). I am suggesting that you ponder the dysfunctionality of your society, do some research into the secretive ‘deep state’ (or military-industrial complex or power elite or the 1% or however you wish to describe it) that controls your ‘republic’ with its electoral system designed to delude you into believing that you have a say in governing your nation, and then consider how you want to engage politically and act in accord with your conscience in doing so.
→ read full articleFrom a Nonviolent Strategist to Brazilian Activists: An Open Letter
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
19 Sep 2016
As I see and read about the ongoing massive protests, as well as calls by prominent community leaders to mobilize in defense of your country’s democracy, I feel great hope for Brazil. Having been a nonviolent activist for many years, I would like to support Brazilian activists to develop a nonviolent strategy that will increase your chances of success. Please read on.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to the People of Brazil
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Sep 2016
5 Sep 2016 – As I see and read about the ongoing massive protests, as well as calls by prominent community leaders to mobilize in defense of your country’s democracy, I feel great hope for Brazil. Having been a nonviolent activist for many years, I would like to support Brazilian activists to develop a nonviolent strategy that will increase your chances of success. Please read on.
→ read full articleNonviolent Revolt in the Twenty-First Century
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Aug 2016
The incorrect attribution of Gandhi’s insights to others starts on page 3 of the book where Gene Sharp is credited with an ‘epiphany … that nonviolence should not be simply a moral code for a small group of true believers to live by’. But it is not exclusively the fault of the authors that they incorrectly attribute Sharp because Sharp himself claims credit for this insight and they cite his claim, from an interview conducted in 2003, on page 4.
→ read full articleA Nonviolent Strategy to End War
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Aug 2016
There is a long history of anti-war and peace activism. Much of this activism has focused on ending a particular war, other at ending a particular aspect of war, such as the use of a type of weapon. Some of it has aimed to prevent a type of war, such as ‘aggressive war’ or nuclear war. For those activists who regard war as the scourge of human existence, however, ‘the holy grail’ has always been much deeper: to end war.
→ read full articleThe Psychology of Ideology and Religion
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Aug 2016
At the macro level, there are worldwide or regional ideologies such as capitalism, fascism, conservatism, communism, socialism, feminism, pacifism and environmentalism as well as religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. There are also variations of these major ideologies and religions. But even at the micro level, the local service club, neighborhood charity and sporting club operates in accordance with an ideology or religion that is shared by its members too.
→ read full articleThe Delusion ‘I Am Not Responsible’
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jul 2016
You might have had a good laugh at some of the examples above. The real challenge is to ask yourself this question: where do I evade responsibility? And to then ponder how you will take responsibility in future.
→ read full articleLament for Humanity: A 50 Year Reflection
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Jul 2016
Deeply affected by the death of my two uncles in World War II, on 1 July 1966, the 24th anniversary of the USS Sturgeon sinking of the Japanese prisoner-of-war ship Montevideo Maru which killed the man after whom I am named, I decided that I would devote my life to working out why human beings are violent and then developing a strategy to end it. Here is my report on 50 years of concerted effort to understand and end human violence.
→ read full articleA Critique of Human Society since the Neolithic Revolution
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Jun 2016
There is a long history of social critics and progressive thinkers offering critiques of human society. While these and other critiques have much to offer, if we want to trace the origin of the dysfunctional and violent human behaviours that now threaten human extinction, I believe it is necessary to examine what has been happening since the Neolithic (agricultural) revolution some 12,000 years ago.
→ read full article(Italiano) Islamofobia: perché sono così tanti, così spaventati
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jun 2016
Infatti ora, naturalmente, i musulmani sono l’obiettivo primario di questa paura e odio di se stessi proiettati, cosa che spiega la guerra dell’Occidente al Medio Oriente guidata dagli Stati Uniti. L’islamofobia quindi permette alle élite e ad altri di proiettare la loro paura e il loro odio per se stessi contro i musulmani, cosicché le élite possano poi cercare di distruggere questa paura e questo odio. Ovviamente, questo non può funzionare. Non si può distruggere la paura, sia propria che di chiunque altro. Si può tuttavia causare un danno eccezionale a coloro contro i quali sono proiettati la propria paura e il proprio odio per se stessi. Naturalmente, non c’è nulla di intelligente in questo processo.
→ read full articleIslamophobia: Why Are So Many People So Frightened?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Jun 2016
For now, of course, Muslims are the primary target for this projected fear and self-hatred, which accounts for the US-led western war on the Middle East. Islamophobia thus allows elites and others to project their fear and self-hatred onto Muslims so that elites can then seek to destroy this fear and self-hatred. Obviously, this cannot work. You cannot destroy fear, whether yours or that of anyone else. However, you can cause phenomenal damage to those onto whom your fear and self-hatred are projected. Of course, there is nothing intelligent about this process.
→ read full articleA Friendly Critique of the Break Free Climate Actions
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 May 2016
My friendly criticism is directed at those key organizers who planned the nonviolent actions without understanding how to make the commitment and courage of those who were mobilized have maximum strategic impact on the ongoing climate catastrophe.
→ read full article(Italiano) Una critica amichevole alle azioni per il clima
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. | Centro Studi Sereno Regis - TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 May 2016
Ma le mie considerazioni, amichevolmente critiche, sono rivolte agli organizzatori principali, che hanno progettato quelle azioni nonviolente senza capire in che modo la dedizione e il coraggio delle persone che sono state coinvolte potessero avere il massimo impatto possibile.
→ read full articleWhy Set Up a Shell Company in Panama? The Psychology Driving Illicit Financial Flows
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 May 2016
There is an important reason why wealthy individuals want to maximise their wealth and evade contributing to any country that gave them the opportunity to make this wealth. You might think that you know this reason too: greed. However, greed is a simplistic explanation that fails to explain, psychologically, why an individual might be greedy. So let me explain it now.
→ read full articleNonviolence Charter: Progress Report #8 (April 2016)
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D., Anita McKone and Anahata Giri – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Apr 2016
Here is the latest six-monthly report on progress in relation to ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’ and a sample of news about Charter signatories. Building a worldwide consensus against the use of violence in all contexts is quite a challenge but we are making solid progress!
→ read full articleEnding Human Violence Is a Task for Each of Us
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Apr 2016
Do you think that ending human violence is impossible? Do you believe that even aiming to do so is unrealistic? Well, you might be right. But you might also be interested to know that there are a lot of people around the world who are committed to trying. And, if you think the aim is worthwhile, you could be one of them.
→ read full articleUnderstanding Self-Hatred in World Affairs
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Mar 2016
Conscious self-hatred is an intensely unpleasant feeling to experience and, consequently, people who feel self-hatred learn to fearfully and deeply suppress their awareness of it when they are very young. Having learned to do this, subsequent opportunities for this self-hatred to be felt are progressively more easily suppressed. I emphasise the word fearfully suppressed.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to the People of West Papua
James Burrowes & Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Feb 2016
We have recently been discussing your ongoing courageous struggle to liberate yourselves from more than 100 years of occupation, first by the Netherlands, briefly and brutally by Japan during World War II, and now by Indonesia. In that regard, we would each like to share a brief message with you, our friends from West Papua.
→ read full articleThe Struggle for Merdeka in West Papua
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jan 2016
In Jason MacLeod’s new book, Merdeka and the Morning Star: Civil Resistance in West Papua, the failure to develop a comprehensive strategy of any kind, violent or nonviolent, to liberate West Papua is overwhelmingly evident. And MacLeod does an excellent job of identifying why this has happened as he provides us with an overview of the history and geopolitical circumstances of the occupation of West Papua as well as a history of the resistance, both violent and nonviolent, to this occupation.
→ read full articleExtinction is Forever
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Dec 2015
it is two things that drive species over the edge: our systematic destruction of land habitat – forests, grasslands, wetlands, peatlands, mangroves… – in our endless effort to capture more of the Earth’s wild places for human use (whether it be residential, commercial, mining, farming or military) and our destruction of waterways and the ocean habitat by dumping into them radioactive contaminants, carbon dioxide, a multitude of poisons and chemical pollutants, and even plastic.
→ read full articleThe Climate Talks in Paris Will Fail. Why?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Nov 2015
As a nonviolent activist, I have never asked elites (or their governments and corporations) to change their behaviour. Instead, I have invited them to respond powerfully to circumstances that I create that compel change. If I invite others to participate in the action I am taking and enough do so, elites have no choice but to act as I prefer. Let me give some examples to explain this.
→ read full articleExposed by WikiLeaks: The US Empire According to Itself
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Nov 2015
In the book ‘The WikiLeaks Files: The World According to US Empire’ we are taken on a journey to understand just how the world works if we read the ‘top secret’ correspondence of those who regard themselves as our masters. Following a thoughtful contextual introduction by Julian Assange, our journey is guided by eighteen first-rate scholars who carefully explain the significance of a range of WikiLeaks-released documents in relation to the region of the world in which they specialize.
→ read full articleElites Want More Refugees: Why?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Sep 2015
Refugees are just one symptom of a deeper crisis. Moreover, like other symptoms of this deeper crisis, the global elite is happy to use this symptom to keep us utterly preoccupied; after all, the immediacy of the refugee problem is all too demanding of our attention and our compassion.
→ read full articleRevolting World
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Aug 2015
‘The World Order and Revolution! Essays from the Resistance’ – Using a combination of political, legal and economic analyses [in their new book], Vltchek, Black and Koenig carefully strip away the façade that the corporate media presents to us, and which the imperial elite wants us to believe, so that we can see some of the ugly, underlying truth about our world.
→ read full articleExposing Lies, Telling the Truth
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Jun 2015
I have just read Andre Vltchek’s new book ‘Exposing Lies of the Empire’. I have one word to describe this book: Great. Superb. Excellent. Brilliant. [However,] Vltchek pays virtually no attention to the effectiveness of nonviolent strategy in resisting empire.
→ read full articleWhy Elites Love Drones
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Serviver,
25 May 2015
The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. once said: ‘The enemy is violence.’ But I believe the true enemy is our fear: the fear of nonviolently resisting violence, in all of its manifestations. Are you afraid?
→ read full articlePeace Lessons: How to Reduce Violence
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 May 2015
If you are interested in learning more about the meaning of, and the relationships among, direct, structural and cultural violence–particularly developed by Professor Johan Galtung–and how one peace studies scholar suggests we use the integrative power of nonviolence to address violence constructively, then I suggest you read the new book by historian, playwright and novelist Professor Timothy Braatz called ‘Peace Lessons’.
→ read full articleLegacy of War
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Apr 2015
Sometimes when we reflect on war, we talk about sacrifice for a good cause. Other times, we talk about the cost, in lives or liberties lost. Occasionally, we talk about the horror. Sometimes we talk about the gains, nationally or internationally, for freedom and democracy. And rarely, we analyse the causes of war and lament that one day we might end it.
→ read full articleNonviolence Charter: Progress Report 6 (Apr 2015)
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D., Anita McKone and Anahata Giri – TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Apr 2015
20 Apr 2015 – Here is the latest six-monthly report on progress in relation to ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’ and a sample of news about, and reports of forthcoming events by, Charter signatories.
→ read full articleSaving Passengers of the Good Ship Titan… Earth
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Apr 2015
So what can we learn from the sinking of the Titanic and its huge death toll that can help us to avert sinking the Good Ship Earth and killing off most, if not all, humans and many other species besides? Let me consider each item above in turn.
→ read full articleVykom: Strategic Nonviolent Action against Untouchability – A Review
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Mar 2015
King is well qualified to undertake this study of the previously neglected Vykom satyagraha. She participated in the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960s led by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr and has been a prominent scholar in the field of nonviolence ever since. Moreover, she is thorough, as the extensive footnotes in her book illustrate.
→ read full articleViolence against Women: Why We Keep Getting it Wrong
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Mar 2015
So let me briefly explain the fundamental cause of violence in our world, including the cause of violence against women, and invite you to do something very personal and effective about it.
→ read full article(Italiano) Perché è inevitabile l’estinzione del genere umano a breve termine
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Mar 2015
L’espressione “estinzione umana a breve termine” è relativamente recente nella letteratura scientifica, ma a differenza di altre realtà che le ‘élite’ nazionali e i canali d’informazione dominanti sono riusciti a soffocare, questa continuerà a filtrare finché non inizierete a sentirla regolarmente. Perché?
→ read full articleTerrorism: Ultimate Weapon of the Global Elite
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Feb 2015
The usual definition of a ‘terrorist’ is simple: a person who uses violence in the pursuit of a political objective. By this definition, the two major categories of terrorist are those political leaders who perpetrate state terror by attacking other countries (ranging from launching a war, perhaps following a false flag operation, to conducting a drone strike).
→ read full articleWhy Do We Fear Love?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 Feb 2015
Why do human beings fear love? That is, why do we fear loving ourselves and others, and why do we fear being fully loved ourselves? Where does obedience fit into all of this? It doesn’t. Those who require obedience are frightened. And fear is the opposite of love. If you want someone to do what you want, you are frightened, not loving.
→ read full articleWhy is Near Term Human Extinction Inevitable?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
22 Dec 2014
The expression ‘near term human extinction’ is relatively new in the scientific literature but, unlike other truths that have been successfully suppressed by national elites and their corporate media, this one will keep filtering out until you start to hear the expression routinely. Why?
→ read full articleNonviolent Action: Minimizing the Risk of Violent Repression
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Dec 2014
I would like to identify ways in which the risk of police or military personnel using illegal and violent tactics can be minimized and, in many cases, thwarted, wherever in the world the nonviolent action takes place. If we are going to take the necessary risks to save our world, we might as well do it strategically.
→ read full articleThe Psychology of Victimhood: Obama, Cameron, Netanyahu, Clinton, Kissinger
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
17 Nov 2014
All children are victims of chronic violence and while a rare individual survives this violence, most acquire a victim status that leaves them psychologically crippled for life, doing a lifetime of soul-destroying work that is far removed from any pursuit that might be described as ‘Self-realizing’.
→ read full articleViolence against Children: UN Gets it Wrong
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
3 Nov 2014
The United Nations has just issued a report, ‘Why Children’s Protection from Violence should be at the Heart of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.’ This is a worthy ideal. Unfortunately, the UN Report does not identify the fundamental cause of violence. Given that human violence now has us on the brink of precipitating our own extinction, it is time we faced the truth and responded meaningfully to it.
→ read full articleUnderstanding and Defeating Resurgent Fascism
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Oct 2014
As fascism is being intruded more widely and deeply into key areas of world politics, it is important to identify this trend, to explain the psychology of fascism and to nominate key elements of any strategy to defeat it.
→ read full articleNonviolence Charter: Progress Report 5 (Oct 2014)
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D., Anita McKone and Anahata Giri – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Oct 2014
Here is the latest six-monthly report on progress in relation to ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’ and a sample of news about, and reports of forthcoming events by, Charter signatories.
→ read full articleCreating a World Culture That Is Nonviolent
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
6 Oct 2014
As we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on 2 October, the International Day of Nonviolence, we have the chance to reflect on our progress in creating a nonviolent world. Culture is not just something we inherit; it is something we create. It can be violent or nonviolent. What sort of culture do you create? Happy birthday Bapu. We are trying!
→ read full articleTackling the Climate Catastrophe Strategically
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Sep 2014
If you like to ask or beg your oppressor to go easy on you, then you do not need to read this article. And if you like to do what makes you feel good at the time, irrespective of its strategic impact, then this article is not for you either. My interest in tackling violence has always been to take action that leaves the perpetrator powerless (but, hopefully, a convert too).
→ read full articleDefeating the Violence of Psychiatry
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
15 Sep 2014
As the movement to abolish psychiatry continues to gather momentum it is worth reviewing its delusional foundation, the history of its violence and its function as a weapon of elite social control. According to research, in the USA ‘prescription drugs are the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer’ and it ‘is inescapable that their availability creates more harm than good’.
→ read full articleNisteling: The Art of Deep Listening
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
1 Sep 2014
I believe that this is the essential foundation step in any strategy to end human violence (in all of its manifestations).
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to My Palestinian Friends
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Aug 2014
I wish to acknowledge the sensitivity of some Palestinians to suggestions from those of us who are only Palestinian in the sense that ‘We are all Palestinian’. I did not choose my nationality. I did choose to study, exhaustively, strategic theory and nonviolent strategy so that I could share them with those who might be interested. I have no interest in doing more than offering this suggestion and my help.
→ read full articleHow Can We Destroy Love?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Aug 2014
What is love? In essence, love is a feeling. It is not something you experience as a thought, although a thought might arise from the feeling… Self-love is true love. The individual who does not truly love her/himself cannot love another.
→ read full articleElite Insanity on Display in Ukraine
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Jul 2014
There are some standard and frequently repeated dysfunctional behaviours on display here with the usual unconscious emotional drivers of this behaviour hidden from view. Let us then consider some obvious aspects of the conflict and analyse them from a psychological perspective.
→ read full articleThe Political Objective and Strategic Goal of Nonviolent Actions
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Jul 2014
Whether or not activists achieve their political objective is strategically irrelevant. This is because an effective nonviolent action is designed to achieve its strategic goal, irrespective of the response of opponents or the authorities to the political objective of the action. Whether or not activists achieve their strategic goal, however, is always strategically determinative.
→ read full articleThe Great Human Delusion: All Parents Love Their Children
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Jul 2014
Evolution’s great trick was to connect reproduction with intense but transitory sexual pleasure, not love. Many children are conceived outside the loving long-term relationship necessary to nurture a child and even those children who are conceived within this framework will routinely suffer parental violence.
→ read full articleThe Journey to Self-Awareness
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
30 Jun 2014
What causes this damage? Terror. And what makes a mind react with terror thus disrupting all other functions simultaneously? Violence. And particularly the unrelenting onslaught of ‘invisible’ violence and ‘utterly invisible’ violence inflicted on children throughout their childhood.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to Cecily McMillan
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
26 May 2014
It is apparent that our strategy to remake society in accord with principles of justice and love must include recognition of the fact that the legal system is part of what must be removed. More sophisticated methods for dealing with conflict and violence – ranging from listening and needs-based processes to truth and reconciliation commissions as well as nonviolent action – have long existed.
→ read full articleHuman Emotions: Genetically Programmed or Socially Learned?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 May 2014
It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming that each human being has a more or less identical range of emotions. This is not so. The outcome for each individual is based on the unique genetic potential of that individual and, more importantly, the social terrorisation experience of that individual within its particular culture, community and family.
→ read full articleForgiveness is Dysfunctional
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
21 Apr 2014
Certain religious traditions, including Christianity, emphasise the importance of forgiveness. I want to explain why forgiveness is misconceived and, therefore, a bad idea. And why there are important psychological reasons for this.
→ read full articleThe Struggle for Humanity
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
7 Apr 2014
Insanity is widely understood to refer to a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behaviour or social interaction; it describes someone who is considered to be seriously mentally ill. And this is an accurate description of the global elite and those who serve it whether they be in political, business, legal, psychiatric, corporate media, academic or other circles.
→ read full articleWhat Do Children Need?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Mar 2014
Apart from having its physical needs met, the primary needs of children are for stimulus and attention. The most important form of attention that anyone, including a child, requires is listening. Listening, in this context, has a precise meaning and it is invariably done extremely badly, particularly by parents in relation to their own children.
→ read full articleWhy Do We Fear the Truth?
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
24 Feb 2014
The bottom line is this: Can you still hear your inner voice? And do you, like Gandhi, have the courage to follow it ‘whatever the consequences’?
→ read full articleThe Global Elite is Insane
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Feb 2014
As anyone who pays even the slightest realistic attention to the global elite already knows, the elite’s efforts to maximise its political and economic clout, and hence its wealth, at the expense of everyone else and the Earth itself, are carefully crafted. And this is not going to change on our recommendation or because we talk to them, or even because we listen to them. Moreover, the reason is simple. The global elite is insane. And it is incredibly violent.
→ read full articleAn Open Letter to Soldiers with ‘Mental Health’ Issues
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
27 Jan 2014
Are you a soldier or veteran who is supposed to have a ‘mental health’ issue such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia or PTSD? If you are, then I have some suggestions for you to consider.
→ read full articleFundamentalism: A Psychological Problem
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Jan 2014
While religious fundamentalism is recognisable to most people, fundamentalism has many non-religious manifestations as well. These are widespread, even if they often occur in less readily identifiable ways.
→ read full articleDefeating the Violence in Our Food and Medicine
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
23 Dec 2013
Apart from exposing the medical industry, there has been much effort to expose the way in which the pharmaceutical and agribusiness food industries (particularly the meat industry) have ensured that little in the way of health-enhancing advice and treatment is available to patients who risk all by subjecting themselves to a ‘doctor’.
→ read full articleLobbying Elites: The Fast Track to Extinction
Robert J. Burrowes, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 Dec 2013
The evidence teaches us that elites want us to lobby (or vote for) them so that they can ignore us, and that mobilizations of people in one place provide easy targets for repression. So we need to develop strategies that primarily allow us to organise collectively in small local groups, to work with people whose values we share and to minimize the opportunities for military and police repression.
→ read full article