1 00:00:06,069 --> 00:00:13,790 all right well hi everyone, I hope you are staying safe during the pandemic. My 2 00:00:13,790 --> 00:00:18,199 name's Steven Richman and I'm gonna be giving you a presentation about creating 3 00:00:18,199 --> 00:00:23,779 world peace through positive peace this was this is based on an essay that 4 00:00:23,779 --> 00:00:30,170 I wrote for Dr. Dickinson's peace building class for PS 407 and let's just 5 00:00:30,170 --> 00:00:36,019 get right into it. So, I'll start with World War one and I'll use this example 6 00:00:36,019 --> 00:00:41,350 because it's a prime example of the things that I'm talking about but um 7 00:00:41,350 --> 00:00:47,359 World War one was the largest war the world had endured at that point it was 8 00:00:47,359 --> 00:00:52,989 known as the Great War and it was such a monument to war during that time that 9 00:00:52,989 --> 00:01:00,429 world leaders called it the "war to end all wars." So, when the world war ended 10 00:01:00,429 --> 00:01:05,689 there were a lot of monumental things happened during that time um just to 11 00:01:05,689 --> 00:01:13,250 name a few the League of Nations there was a lot of uh more treaties 12 00:01:13,250 --> 00:01:16,640 non-aggression treaties but one of the most notable what I'm going to be 13 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,780 talking about the most the Treaty of Versailles which marked the end of World 14 00:01:20,780 --> 00:01:28,579 War one and it was the most impactful and progressive trees at that time and 15 00:01:28,579 --> 00:01:34,100 the goal of it was to prevent another war was to make it so that this war was 16 00:01:34,100 --> 00:01:40,219 the war to end all wars so did this treaty accomplish his goal as we all 17 00:01:40,219 --> 00:01:45,619 known and didn't uh the Treaty of Versailles failed to accomplish its task 18 00:01:45,619 --> 00:01:51,799 of creating world peace the events that happened right after World War Two with 19 00:01:51,799 --> 00:01:58,159 the Treaty of Versailles and things like that can easily be the cause of World 20 00:01:58,159 --> 00:02:03,649 War two which brought more deaths more destruction it brought genocide and it 21 00:02:03,649 --> 00:02:06,530 brought the largest weapon in the world had ever seen 22 00:02:06,530 --> 00:02:11,930 and so because how World War II ended is part of the cause of World War two 23 00:02:11,930 --> 00:02:17,540 we need to look and see when a World War 1 leader went wrong and how we can 24 00:02:17,540 --> 00:02:21,950 change our ways and make sure that something like this doesn't happen again 25 00:02:21,950 --> 00:02:27,680 and how to do this and what I blame them for is that they fail to incorporate 26 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:32,299 positive peace and as a point to look at that and understand where they went 27 00:02:32,299 --> 00:02:35,530 wrong um because as you can see right here 28 00:02:35,530 --> 00:02:42,500 where they went wrong wasn't just you know a war it was the worst war that the 29 00:02:42,500 --> 00:02:46,400 world had seen it had the most deaths it had the Holocaust and so it's 30 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,169 important that we analyze this and understand it and where they went wrong 31 00:02:51,169 --> 00:02:56,180 is that they failed to incorporate positive peace now you must be asking 32 00:02:56,180 --> 00:02:59,870 well what's the difference between positive peace and normal pieces and 33 00:02:59,870 --> 00:03:05,269 I'll start with normal piece first noah peace is only the absence of violent 34 00:03:05,269 --> 00:03:10,459 conflict so it just means that there isn't a war that there isn't constant 35 00:03:10,459 --> 00:03:15,489 violence against each other there's still aggression to fill inequality 36 00:03:15,489 --> 00:03:20,090 still racism and things like that and so under normal peace the structural 37 00:03:20,090 --> 00:03:24,500 conflict between races classes and religions are not addressed and so you 38 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:30,799 could look at we can look at a time during America when we had slavery now 39 00:03:30,799 --> 00:03:36,590 we were not considered this peaceful a normal piece would consider this in a 40 00:03:36,590 --> 00:03:40,579 anyway peaceful um the world the you know the leader of the United States 41 00:03:40,579 --> 00:03:45,859 would have said that slavery wasn't didn't didn't make the United States not 42 00:03:45,859 --> 00:03:53,870 peaceful um we would today and for good reason but the important thing to note 43 00:03:53,870 --> 00:03:59,389 is that not just because there's an absence of that structural violence like 44 00:03:59,389 --> 00:04:03,139 war or anything like that doesn't mean that it's actually peaceful and that's 45 00:04:03,139 --> 00:04:08,150 the thing that no peace fails to address and so when you look at positive peace 46 00:04:08,150 --> 00:04:12,349 it is the app from the violence absolutely but it's the presence of so 47 00:04:12,349 --> 00:04:16,940 much more it's the presence of justice and culture and economics political 48 00:04:16,940 --> 00:04:22,630 structures and institutions and it's freedom for all on 49 00:04:22,630 --> 00:04:27,550 in a sense that you can translate this to it addresses the loot conflicts of 50 00:04:27,550 --> 00:04:32,080 why violence breaks out whether it be inequality or whether it be economics 51 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:38,950 religion whatever it is it tries to address that so that we stop that kind 52 00:04:38,950 --> 00:04:43,810 of aggression before it even begins that we don't give a society a reason to be 53 00:04:43,810 --> 00:04:50,800 aggressive um and yeah so and it can't be acquired by the 54 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:56,620 winning of a war by conquest and it can't being given it's not something 55 00:04:56,620 --> 00:05:00,130 that can be achieved through victors or losers it is something that must be 56 00:05:00,130 --> 00:05:07,930 pursued at constantly and responsibly by all humans now that all humans is very 57 00:05:07,930 --> 00:05:11,950 important it I'll talk more about that later but when I say all humans I mean 58 00:05:11,950 --> 00:05:18,670 everyone and another thing that I just said is that under positive peace there 59 00:05:18,670 --> 00:05:25,060 are no victors and so will the world Woodrow Wilson put this in pretty great 60 00:05:25,060 --> 00:05:28,420 terms it must be peace without victory because 61 00:05:28,420 --> 00:05:33,670 victory would mean peace forced upon the loser 62 00:05:33,670 --> 00:05:41,260 and a good example of why there can't be victors is the German hyperinflation 63 00:05:41,260 --> 00:05:46,600 after post-world War one so none of the treaties of Versailles and Germany had 64 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,400 to pay back all of the debts of World War one which was a lot and in order to 65 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,570 do this the government of Germany printed more money to the point where it 66 00:05:55,570 --> 00:05:59,910 led to hyperinflation and the currency was useless here we see a photo of 67 00:05:59,910 --> 00:06:04,990 children playing with stacks of cash like they're building blocks because 68 00:06:04,990 --> 00:06:08,800 that's literally all they're worth they're not actually worth anything 69 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:17,920 um and so positive peace forces both sides to avoid a vicious cycle of abuse 70 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:23,560 and compromise and that's really important this is a really important 71 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,640 aspect of how violence actually comes about in our society and it's also a 72 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:32,979 little bit controversial and so what that means or what the vicious cycle of 73 00:06:32,979 --> 00:06:35,760 abuse is 74 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:41,120 is that there's a natural not of natural cycle but there's a cycle of abuse where 75 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,589 one group oppresses another and once the other group rises out they oppress 76 00:06:45,589 --> 00:06:49,969 the group that oppressed them and it's the same way we can look at this at an 77 00:06:49,969 --> 00:06:56,300 individual level so if we look at an abusive alcoholic father he most likely 78 00:06:56,300 --> 00:07:03,050 went through the same kind of abuse that he inflicts um and so whatever that 79 00:07:03,050 --> 00:07:07,879 trauma is there is now inflicted instead of being resolved it's now inflicted 80 00:07:07,879 --> 00:07:15,259 upon whoever's around him and so it's it can be applied to society to once the 81 00:07:15,259 --> 00:07:18,710 oppressed people rise of oppression they inflict the same kind of oppression back 82 00:07:18,710 --> 00:07:23,569 onto their oppressors um we can look at this and look at Israel there's no doubt 83 00:07:23,569 --> 00:07:26,830 that the Jews have been oppressed but we'll look at what's going on between 84 00:07:26,830 --> 00:07:31,069 Israel and Palestine there's no doubt that the Palestinian people are being 85 00:07:31,069 --> 00:07:36,020 repressed and I'm not taking sides here I'm just saying that there's a there's 86 00:07:36,020 --> 00:07:45,050 oppression on both sides but that cycle of oppression is still there and yeah we 87 00:07:45,050 --> 00:07:56,270 can look at Rwanda and I'm gonna closely um you know um essentially there were 88 00:07:56,270 --> 00:08:03,289 two tribes and one tribe was in power and oppressed the other tribe and in the 89 00:08:03,289 --> 00:08:10,189 90s once that lower tribe the tribe that was oppressed they broke out of that and 90 00:08:10,189 --> 00:08:18,680 committed genocide upon the other tribe and I'm you know I'm understanding how 91 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,909 complex that is but and it's just that that is what happens we can look at Nazi 92 00:08:22,909 --> 00:08:30,620 Germany post-world War One they were oppressed by their European counterparts 93 00:08:30,620 --> 00:08:37,940 they were forced to go through economic collapse their their country was you 94 00:08:37,940 --> 00:08:46,490 know deny to do some basic things and in the end that economic collapse led to 95 00:08:46,490 --> 00:08:51,779 the rise of Nazi Germany and IIIi don't want this to sound like 96 00:08:51,779 --> 00:08:56,339 I'm supporting one group with another it's the important notion that we have 97 00:08:56,339 --> 00:09:03,390 to provide human aid to everyone that that prejudiced against someone who 98 00:09:03,390 --> 00:09:09,510 oppressed you has to be forgiving that you have to give that humanity back to 99 00:09:09,510 --> 00:09:16,010 your oppressors so that you can become equals and that's not a popular opinion 100 00:09:16,010 --> 00:09:22,260 and I recognize that but it is a very important to achieve long lasting peace 101 00:09:22,260 --> 00:09:28,320 or else we do end up in this vicious cycle of abuse now this isn't to say 102 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:33,149 that oppressed people shouldn't rise out of oppression this is to say that they 103 00:09:33,149 --> 00:09:37,740 should do it in a non-violent manner the same way that Gandhi and Martin Luther 104 00:09:37,740 --> 00:09:42,839 King did and become equals with those people that were oppressed and provide 105 00:09:42,839 --> 00:09:48,720 humane to them and to themselves this is complicated and if you're going to get 106 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,810 one thing out of this presentation it's gonna be that this idea is complicated 107 00:09:53,810 --> 00:09:58,230 but it's still nonetheless something that we have to address even if it may 108 00:09:58,230 --> 00:10:02,700 be controversial so what are we begin with all good the 109 00:10:02,700 --> 00:10:07,800 first thing to know is that it requires sacrifice on all sides that sacrifice 110 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:13,110 isn't necessary it is necessary by the victors it is necessary by the losers it 111 00:10:13,110 --> 00:10:17,790 is necessary by the oppressed and the oppressors and it's to the point where 112 00:10:17,790 --> 00:10:25,920 we become equal and there are a lot of personal sacrifices that we will have to 113 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:30,000 make the second thing is that we have to look at ourselves and acknowledge our 114 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,890 own prejudices whether they be deep within us that maybe we don't actually 115 00:10:34,890 --> 00:10:38,850 acknowledge that maybe we don't even know about whether it be blinging out 116 00:10:38,850 --> 00:10:45,690 front nonetheless we have to fully look at ourselves analyze ourselves and 117 00:10:45,690 --> 00:10:50,700 recognize when we are prejudice even if we don't mean to you it's still 118 00:10:50,700 --> 00:10:54,180 important that we have to acknowledge that and this isn't easy it involves 119 00:10:54,180 --> 00:10:57,930 having some very difficult conversations and 120 00:10:57,930 --> 00:11:02,760 it may include that you have to admit to yourself that you are prejudiced even if 121 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:10,080 you never want it to be and it's it's on both sides to it's not just one side or 122 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,770 the other it's on both sides and we have to address that we are prejudiced and we 123 00:11:13,770 --> 00:11:19,050 have to fix that it's we have to work on these prejudices to provide humility to 124 00:11:19,050 --> 00:11:25,529 everyone that everyone together needs to work on them on both sides on all sides 125 00:11:25,529 --> 00:11:33,720 and it's this is difficult and complicated and some people may just 126 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:39,779 rather not do that um but in order to achieve long-lasting sustainable peace 127 00:11:39,779 --> 00:11:45,990 it is something that we must do so let's just reflect on our own country for a 128 00:11:45,990 --> 00:11:50,970 second the United States is easily one of the largest blocks and achieving 129 00:11:50,970 --> 00:11:57,660 positive peace you can look at the wars that we have gone through our foreign 130 00:11:57,660 --> 00:12:03,029 policy even some of our domestic policy and you can see that we truly do not 131 00:12:03,029 --> 00:12:10,950 follow this we barely we barely follow normal peace so we can look at Iraq for 132 00:12:10,950 --> 00:12:16,080 and as an example is that our journalist easily made the decision to invade Iraq 133 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:20,220 without thinking what what happens what would happen after we invaded because 134 00:12:20,220 --> 00:12:25,410 they didn't care once we overthrew Saddam Hussein we really didn't care 135 00:12:25,410 --> 00:12:30,270 what happened to them after that that's not positive peace whether or not Saddam 136 00:12:30,270 --> 00:12:36,450 Hussein to be overthrown is beyond the point that recognizing that there are so 137 00:12:36,450 --> 00:12:41,459 much better ways that we can address violence so it's HIPPA chol to destroy 138 00:12:41,459 --> 00:12:45,420 cities in the Middle East in the name of stopping terrorism or in the name in 139 00:12:45,420 --> 00:12:50,490 other words in the name of stopping violence if we truly want to stop 140 00:12:50,490 --> 00:12:55,079 violence we truly want to stop terrorism it's more important that we provide 141 00:12:55,079 --> 00:12:59,399 something to these countries to give them positive and sentence so that that 142 00:12:59,399 --> 00:13:03,060 deep-seated economic struggle for these people isn't 143 00:13:03,060 --> 00:13:10,440 there that deep prejudice of our bombings of their cities and countries 144 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:14,109 is there and so if we were to go in and 145 00:13:14,109 --> 00:13:18,819 provide more humanitarian relief instead of forcing him to have to had 146 00:13:18,819 --> 00:13:24,879 humanitarian relief this would be a much more efficient way of stopping terrorism 147 00:13:24,879 --> 00:13:30,220 of stopping violence and achieving positive peace and this is a little 148 00:13:30,220 --> 00:13:35,739 cheesy but our at the end our Pledge of Allegiance we say and justice for all 149 00:13:35,739 --> 00:13:40,599 I think that it's important that we take this to heart that we provide justice 150 00:13:40,599 --> 00:13:45,419 through cultures economics political structures and religions that we provide 151 00:13:45,419 --> 00:13:53,649 justice for everyone and that doesn't include the people that we that live in 152 00:13:53,649 --> 00:13:59,339 our own country doesn't include the people in our allies it includes 153 00:13:59,339 --> 00:14:05,919 everyone and this isn't easy and a lot of people would criticize this and say 154 00:14:05,919 --> 00:14:11,799 that it's very idealistic that it's it's impossible and whether it is or not I 155 00:14:11,799 --> 00:14:14,979 don't think it matters I think that it's important that we recognize how we 156 00:14:14,979 --> 00:14:24,970 actually achieve real peace and work towards it and it's the only way if to 157 00:14:24,970 --> 00:14:32,709 get to that point we have to constantly work together to create justice for all 158 00:14:32,709 --> 00:14:35,759 thank you