Peace and War

Where are the Peacemakers? Our Institutions are Designed for War

By Ethan Indigo Smith

The Matrix of Four in Peace and War

11th March 2011, the day the world changed forever, the day the nuclear era became cemented and the whole planet became scorched. This is also the day that the proclaimed leader of the free world delayed announcing a no-fly zone over Libya, essentially a martial act. The biggest disaster the planet has ever known – one that promises national destruction of Japan and pollution of the planet and everywhere – is war.

Where are the peacemakers? Where is the means to help Japan? Or the intent? Our institutions are designed for war. And as enormous of a problem nuclear experimentation is, the biggest problem is the problem inside our heads! The problem that conjures nuclear experimentation and war to begin with is our mind state, that we have for instance built up destructive institutions of war, but not constructive institutions.

Many ideas correlate the Jungian concept of four modes of thinking and being. For instance the first four characters of Genesis allegorically represent the four cardinal velocities of thinking and being. It describes man’s ignorant tendencies, hubristic nature, conniving attributes and our ability to seek and distribute the truth. There are many other ways to look at Genesis, like all stories, allegories, adages and metaphors, it is layered and open for interpretation. The Garden of Eden and Genesis can represent both the external Earth and the internal mind for instance. Refuting all the institutional baggage religious institutions have bestowed on the allegory for a moment, it is possible to see the Garden of Eden as internal and external allegory reflective of thinking and being.

Adam and Eve-  Adam acts unquestioningly like an idiot, Eve acts on what she wants to believe like a zealot, the Serpent acts to deceive like an elitist and God acts to share information, like a patriot. Adam doesn’t question and believes what he is told. Eve

believes what she wants. The Serpent lies. And God simply told them don’t eat that fruit, perhaps akin to the warning of Pandora, a Pandora say akin to the nuclear experiment.

People tend to act in one of these four mindsets as it concerns the Pandora of nuclear experimentation. The same ignorance, hubris and trickery are evident today. The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the result of seizing power in a negative way, like the Pandora of nuclear experimentation, ill results follow ill pursuits. The fruit of nuclear experimentation is death and lessened life. It is hubristic, and the external pursuits are based in the unconscious internally driven pursuit to take power. Nuclear experimentation is a literal manifestation of Pandora’s Box and as consequential as eating from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil resulting in lessened life for all.

In the ancient metaphor of the Garden of Eden God is the distinct fourth part. As the matrix of four goes there is often one more distinct and developed part to the set. The following is what I call the Metaphor of the State and just as the four first characters of the Bible in the Garden of Eden can be used to understand ourselves and others the Metaphor of the State can be used the same way.

Imagine there are four states with one distinct and more developed part of the set. Each reflects the four states of war and peace in individual consciousness and collectives of mass consciousness.

Imagine the four bordering states in a contentious region of the world. One state is of peace, is constantly at peace and prepares for peace. Another state is of war, is constantly at war and prepares for war. Another state is at war, prepares for war and yet is ready for peace.  And the last state is at peace, prepares for peace and yet is ready for defense.

There are many ways the states may act and react, but the warring state will eventually arrive at the border of the peaceful state. And the peaceful state will likely concede. The warring state will arrive at the border of the other nation of war and either they fight just enough to maintain a status quo or they fight until one loses all, while the other loses a lot. Now imagine the winning war state arriving at the border of the peaceful state that is ready for self-defense. Potentially the war state will decide it is not worth confrontation because of its strength or because of its accommodation.

Any number of questions and quantifications can be applied utilizing these four states of the Garden of Eden and the Metaphor of the State, both can be applied to real individuals and institutions to understand the present and to make guesses as to the future. The fourth part of the set in the metaphor of the state, the most distinct and significant, is the peaceful state which promotes peace, but is ready for self-defense. One can imagine being in one of these states, both internally and externally, and quickly determine which is the more preferable mind state and nation state.

Mathematical and scientific absolutes can be used in understanding societal complexity, things that might seem unrelated might be neighboring extrapolations. A pinnacle universal absolute is that in balance is polarity, like a table on four legs. Balance is not only sought by human mentality, but is a primordial universal tendency exhibited in orbiting spheres. Balance is exhibited in the macro and micro often through the matrix of four.

There are four forms of lies for instance. The four forms of lies are directly related to the four operations of arithmetic. Mathematical approaches can assist in making sense of the unpredictable dynamic of state interaction as well as making sense of and finding the truth. Institutions and their representatives, state or otherwise, constantly lie. Outright conjuration and total denial of fact are the obvious types. But the advanced lies are more nuanced and subtle as opposed to outright addition and total subtraction of information.

The first type of lie is addition of information. Sometimes the addition of a small bit of information can change the story entirely. The second type of lie is the subtraction of information.  The removal of small key components can result in entirely different meaning. The third type of lie is multiplication of information. Exaggerations of situations connected with the story as well as exaggerations of extraneous information are included in the presentation to dilute it. The fourth type of lie is division of information. The facts are interlaced with disconnects and the significance of information is separated. The nuclear experimentation industry is founded on lies and always lies as a matter of business strategy.

Understanding there are four types of lies perpetuated by individuals and institutions alike leads to more stability in your truth. There is less likelihood liars will succeed in lying to you or to others around you. There are four types of lies, however only one truth. The point of intersection, where nothing is added or subtracted, multiplied or divided, is the truth we try to be in line with and as close to as possible. Understanding what is being balanced leads one closer to that point of intersection, the truth.

    “Deception is a state of mind and the mind of the state.” ~ James Jesus Angleton

The truth is that we live in a world of states that prepare for war and are at war. We have built mechanisms that can destroy the planet on purpose and accident, but our institutions are not designed to save the planet and have to be morphed to help each other. The problem in our heads is we do not design systems to help each other for peace, but to hinder each other in war. There are a few things that all individuals can unite on, nuclear experimentation and with it war, is one thing we can all stand together against. We have to stand together to help Japan and the Japanese people and ourselves. Where is the leader of the free world? Where are the institutions of nuclear experimentation? The U.S.A. has done nothing. GE has done nothing. The nuclear industry as a whole has done nothing, nothing but lie.

We allow war and lies, but do not know how to help each other. We have to change our mind state.

wakeup-world.com

War No More

 Israeli Prime Minister Lays Out Path To War With Iran

By Joseph Kishore

In a bellicose speech before the United Nations last Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded a “red line” be placed on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, outlining a plan of action that would lead to war next year, if not sooner.

Employing a crude cartoon drawing of a bomb with a lit fuse, Netanyahu said that action to physically destroy Iran’s nuclear program would have to take place before the uranium enrichment process began its final stage, which he claimed would happen around the spring or summer of 2013. “The hour is getting late, very late,” he declared.

The Israeli prime minister compared the Iranian government to Al Qaeda, placing the two within the framework of “a fanatic ideology bent on world domination.” He added, “It makes little differences whether these lethal weapons are in the hands of the world’s most dangerous terrorist regime, or the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization.”

Speaking as the head of state for a government that, in close alliance with the United States, is responsible for military aggression throughout the Middle East and beyond, and is engaged in a brutal occupation of Palestine, Netanyahu said that Israel “cherishes peace.” Israel currently has a stockpile of some 400 atomic bombs and has refused to submit to international inspections.

Iran has denied that is building a nuclear weapon, and international inspectors have found no evidence of anything that goes beyond an energy program. Netanyahu insisted, however, “The red line must be drawn on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program because these facilities are the only nuclear installations we can see and target.” By placing his “red line” before the beginning of the production of weapons-grade uranium, Netanyahu is seeking to establish a pretext for war even before there is any evidence that Iran is actually seeking to build a bomb.

by Pawel Kuczynski

Israeli-US plans for war—which would have devastating and incalculable consequences—are being carried out entirely behind the backs of the American people. One of the principal concerns of the Obama administration has been to delay actions until after the US elections in November, to ensure that the population has no say in the matter.

Whatever their tactical differences, the US and Israel are agreed on basic strategy. “Democrats and Republicans alike” are united in the campaign against Iran, Netanyahu said. He added, “Israel is in discussions with the United States over this issue, and I am confident that we can chart a path forward, together.”

Netanyahu’s remarks came two days after Obama, in his own speech before the United Nations, declared that “a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained… The United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

At the same time, Obama indicated that the administration wants to spend more time increasing sanctions on Iran, which have had a crippling impact on the country’s economy.

Netanyahu’s timetable for military action—coming about six months after the US elections—is an indication that his government is seeking to play down differences with the Obama administration over when military action would take place. On the day of his remarks, a report was leaked from Israel’s Foreign Ministry calling for an additional round of sanctions.

The report, obtained by the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz, also details the devastating impact of existing economic sanctions, including a 50 percent decline in oil exports and a sharp rise in prices for food and other commodities.

Commenting on disagreements over “red lines” on Iran’s nuclear program, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Thursday, “I think that this whole matter of red lines should be made, but not publicly. And I think that at the moment, the talks between us and the Americans, which are excellent, are precisely about this. We are constantly coming closer in our positions.”

Dennis Ross, a career Middle East diplomat under both Republican and Democratic Presidents, including the Obama administration, also emphasized the basic strategic agreement between the US and Israel. “What you are really seeing is an agreement on the objective of making certain Iran cannot have nuclear weapons,” he said in an interview with MSNBC.

Ross added that “one of the reasons it is so important to create a context where the international community believes… that you have exhausted all the diplomatic options and have given the economic sanctions enough time” is “to create the kind of context that demonstrates unmistakably that we went the extra mile and if we had to use force, in fact we were left with no choice.”

The resort to war, Ross said, is “more and more likely.”

countercurrents

Wars

War and rumors of wars: number of armed conflicts increased strongly in 2011 says new report

Last year, the number of armed conflicts in the world increased markedly, with the strongest increase taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is the conclusion in a new report by researchers at the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), published in the Journal of Peace Research. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has presented the statistics to the UN General Assembly in his report on international mediation. Following a year (2010) that signaled hope for a more peaceful development, the number of conflicts increased by nearly 20 percent, from 31 to 37. Last year’s jump in conflicts deviates from the long-term trend line, which shows that the world is gradually becoming more peaceful. “It should be pointed out, however, that even though we have now witnessed the largest increase between any two years since 1990, the number of conflicts is still far below the peak levels of the early 1990s,” says Professor Peter Wallensteen, head of the UCDP. At the peak 53 armed conflicts were active. 2011 also saw an increase in the most severe conflicts. Six conflicts were categorized as wars, passing the level of at least 1,000 battle-related deaths. This is up from four in 2010. While the wars in Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, and Somalia have received much media attention, the intense conflicts in Sudan and Yemen have been less covered. “The increase in the category of the most deadly conflicts is disquieting,” says Lotta Themnér, project leader at UCDP. The growth in conflicts is not primarily a reflection of the Arab Spring. Only in Libya and Syria did the unrest develop into organized armed conflicts. The strongest growth has happened in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the shade of the Arab Spring events. Armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa have increased by 50 % in only one year, from 10 in 2010 to 15 in 2011. – This is a grave development for a region that desperately needs stability and development, says Helge Holtermann, PRIO researcher and Managing Editor of the Journal of Peace Research. The partition of Sudan has caused new conflicts, while former conflicts in Nigeria and Senegal have reemerged. –

Global Democracy

 The United for Global Democracy statement was adopted by Occupy London and reached consensus at the General Assembly by St Paul’s Cathedral in October 2011.

On 15 October 2011, united in our diversity, united for global change, we demand global democracy: global governance by the people, for the people. Inspired by our sisters and brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, New York, Palestine-Israel, Spain and Greece, we too call for a regime change: a global regime change. In the words of Vandana Shiva, the Indian activist, today we demand replacing the G8 with the whole of humanity – the G7,000,000,000.

Undemocratic international institutions are our global Mubarak, our global Assad, our global Gaddafi. These include: the IMF, the WTO, global markets, multinational banks, the G8/G20, the European Central Bank and the UN security council. Like Mubarak and Assad, these institutions must not be allowed to run people’s lives without their consent. We are all born equal, rich or poor, woman or man. Every African and Asian is equal to every European and American. Our global institutions must reflect this, or be overturned.

Today, more than ever before, global forces shape people’s lives. Our jobs, health, housing, education and pensions are controlled by global banks, markets, tax-havens, corporations and financial crises. Our environment is being destroyed by pollution in other continents. Our safety is determined by international wars and international trade in arms, drugs and natural resources. We are losing control over our lives. This must stop. This will stop. The citizens of the world must get control over the decisions that influence them in all levels – from global to local. That is global democracy. That is what we demand today.

Today, like the Mexican Zapatistas, we say “¡Ya basta! Aquí el pueblo manda y el gobierno obedece”: Enough! Here the people command and global institutions obey! Like the Spanish Tomalaplaza we say “Democracia Real Ya”: True global democracy now!” Today we call the citizens of the world: let us globalise Tahrir Square! Let us globalise Puerta del Sol!

Peace

Through the eyes of many advanced alien cultures it is seen as extremely primitive and uncouth to use violence to settle disputes amongst one another. History has shown that we've been a destructive species not only to ourselves and to one another, but to the Earth and all of her inhabitants. Humans have waged war against one another, since the dawn of man, because of indifference and often for money and power. We must grow up as a species. Subscribe to peace and pacifism...it's not just for hippies.

Try and perceive the Earth through the eyes of an astronaut, and when you can visualize our blue sphere, our Earth, just floating in the black void of space, yet teeming with life below on every continent and in every ocean, you might just have your eyes opened, be humbled in that moment of clarity, and see the bigger picture. I believe President John F. Kennedy had it right when he said,

"Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, or miscalculation, or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us."

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind."

 openyoureyes