Investing in World Peace
I am a Rotary scholar and some time ago I had a Rotary club helping me to get my program into a school. One year and half later they still were not successful in making it happen. I came to the conclusion that the head of the group, a energy industry person may not value my work as he made comments that he had concerns about my approach. I am not interested in making money out of peace, although I am mindful it gets picked up faster if there is some profit. However, this is inspired work and I really don’t care about the money. I reflected on Rotary’s 4 way test which is essentially service above self, which is what I am about. He allowed his business acumen to get in the way of a good idea. I am a trained Economist and so is he, so I knew how he saw the world in terms of investment models. I see the world differently in terms of model behaviour that models values and goes with the flow of my true nature, I knew he didn’t get this, but really in the end I didn’t mind. I wrote this poem inspired by him. If we invested our time in peace education for children, our world would be unrecognisable. We have to choose what we truly value as an investment for the next generation. I made my choice.
INVESTING IN WORLD PEACE
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 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.