Teach Peace Moment: Group Discussion Tool (from Appendix F in American Hiroshima)

TRANSFORMATIONAL “WHY NOTS” FOR CONSIDERATION

Why is the world “suddenly” opposed to the foreign policies of the United States? Is this jealously for the prosperous American way of life and freedoms as President Bush suggests, or is the anger a product of policies that hurt people outside the United States? This list is provided to facilitate reflection and promote group discussion.

Why not:

·       end exceptionalist policies like possessing nuclear weapons and dominating space with weapons?

·        demand free speech and freedom of religion from any country that receives most favored nation trading status?

·        recognize that addressing human suffering is in our best interest?

·        stop artificially splitting countries at the expense of the native people?

·        stop supporting the seizure of one country by another?

·        prevent long-term dependence and the hate-hate dynamic by withdrawing United States soldiers from South Korea and other countries around the world?

·       direct savings from nuclear weapons development to help end worldwide hunger?

·      support non-violent democratic movements across the globe and pursue non-violent means to oppose behaviors that suppress democracy?

·        stop labeling to disable and focus on the idea presented?

·        seek out thoughtful and well-informed people that may disagree with us so that we may enhance our understanding?

·        challenge counter-intuitive myths like starting wars brings peaceful outcomes?

·      seek sources of information beyond one country’s television, radio and newspapers to obtain a more balanced understanding?

·        make eliminating America’s dependence on oil a national priority?

·        understand the importance of key resources like water in regional conflicts?

·        stop funding foreign militias?

·      look at history, and not just the initial act of aggression, to give a more comprehensive context for today’s appropriate solutions?

·       stop the illegal war in Iraq?

·       stop seeding nations like Iraq with weapons as the Reagan administration did by sending anthrax, the bacteria for botulinum toxin, and the germs to create gas gangrene?

·        impeach and prosecute as a war criminal President George W. Bush  for lying to the American people, starting an illegal war, betraying American soldiers, and the deaths of thousands of people?

·        outlaw unilateral preemptive wars as part of the U.S. Constitution?

·        stop being the leader of developed and deployed weapons of mass destruction?

·        restrict deployment of United States nuclear weapons to America’s borders?

·        reduce the U.S. arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons to 384?

·        renounce the first use and testing of nuclear weapons?

·      strengthen U.S. commitment to international treaties like the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention?

·       add the safeguards discussed in this book that would prevent a single person from having the power to destroy the planet?

·        stop being the initial source for worldwide proliferation of weapons of mass destruction information?

·        stop leading the world in international weapon sales?

·        recognize that the foreign policy interests of corporations can conflict with the interests of the electorate?

·        stop conflicts of interest between businesses and policymakers?

·        make the true costs of war known?

·        keep space free of weapons?

·        balance what we spend on war preparation with peace programs to alleviate suffering and promote justice?

·        be perceived as the greatest worldwide source of peace instead of being perceived as the leading threat to world peace?

·        make our world free of nuclear weapons?

If the citizens of the United States seriously debate these transformational ideas, a more peaceful world is possible now.

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