Peace should be profitable
(op-ed, NB)
Department of Peace
Subject: Petition in support of a Dept. of Peace
This independent citizen s initiative to create a United States
Cabinet-level Department of Peace was launched in the United States of America on September 18, 2002. It was initiated to help reduce ignorance and suffering and to expand knowledge and justice in our world. Please sign this petition below.
Rationale: We are familiar with war. We are not very knowledgeable about peace, which is defined as the cessation or absence of war. That
indicates what peace is not but not what peace is. Peace is something
more than the cessation of hostilities. If we exist in a state of
repressed fear, we cannot call that peace.
True peace, like war, is a symptom. While war is the culmination of our
competitive excesses, peace is symptomatic of that which is constructive, cooperative, and nurturing. Whereas war is the most debilitating addiction by which we suffer, peace represents the most wholesome expression of the spirit by which we are sustained.
As a species, we are beginning to realize that we are each a part of a
system of relationships that embrace our families, friends, neighbors,
business associates, groups and organizations, community, nation, and whole family of nations. No single object in nature exists independently. It is apparent that there is no constructive place for hostilities in this pattern.
We simply do not have the time, resources, or energy to waste fighting
with each other. We have serious problems on this planet. There are now 6.2 billion of us. We are increasing at a rate of 80 million a year. Each week we have approximately 1,538,000 more of us to feed, clothe, house, educate, employ, transport, government, protect, and keep healthy.
It s Time to get serious about peace.
We have a Department of Defense (formerly Department of War). Why do we not have a Department of Peace? In fact, a bill was introduced on July 11, 2001 by U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace. This bill embodies a broad-based approach to peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution at both domestic and international levels. The Department of Peace would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful and secure world.
A brief summary of the Department of Peace legislation follows. To read the entire bill, go to Rep. Dennis Kucinich s web site,
http://www.house.gov/kucinich/index.htm, and click on peace.
A SUMMARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PEACE LEGISLATION:
1. Establish a cabinet-level department in the executive branch of the
Federal Government dedicated to peacemaking and the study of conditions that are conducive to both domestic and international peace.
2. Headed by a Secretary of Peace, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
3. The mission of the Department shall: hold peace as an organizing
principle; endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to
expand human rights; strengthen nonmilitary means of peacemaking; promote the development of human potential; work to create peace, prevent violence, divert from armed conflict and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution; and take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict and structured mediation of conflict.
4. The Department will create and establish a Peace Academy, modeled after the military service academies, which will provide a 4 year concentration in peace education. Graduates will be required to serve 5 years in public service in programs dedicated to domestic or
international nonviolent conflict resolution.
5. The principal officers of the Department, in addition to the Secretary
of Peace will include; the Under Secretary of Peace; the Assistant
Secretary for Peace Education and Training; the Assistant Secretary for Domestic Peace Activities, the Assistant Secretary for International
Peace Activities; the Assistant Secretary for Technology for Peace; the
Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Disarmament; the Assistant
Secretary for Peaceful Coexistence and Nonviolent Conflict Resolution; the Assistant Secretary for Human and Economic Rights; and a General Counsel.
6. The first day of each year, January 1st will be designated as Peace
Day in the United States and all citizens should be encouraged to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace in the coming year.
Contact Information: The coordinator for this project is Joseph (Joe) R.
Simonetta, Senior Editor of the World Business Academy
(www.worldbusiness.org) and author of Seven Words That Can Change the World (Nov 2001, Hampton Roads Publishing). Mr. Simonetta s diverse background includes having been a U.S. military officer (Army artillery,1996-68). His web site is www.joesimonetta.com. His email address is
jrsimonetta@comcast.net.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Add your name, state, and country to the list below.
2. Forward (cut and paste is best) this petition to others.
3. If you are the 100th person on the list, do the following:
a. Send a copy of the list to lisa.casini@mail.house.gov (Lisa is on
Congressman Kucinich s staff) and to Joe Simonetta at
jrsimonetta@comcast.net.
b. Keep the petition going.
c. Eliminate all the names that you have sent to Casini and Simonetta.
d. Send out the petition with your name, state, and country first
(it s okay that you ve signed twice).
ADD YOUR NAME, STATE, AND COUNTRY TO THE PETITION FOR A U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF PEACE:
Peace should be profitable
(op-ed, NB)
Department of Peace
Subject: Petition in support of a Dept. of Peace
This independent citizen s initiative to create a United States
Cabinet-level Department of Peace was launched in the United States of America on September 18, 2002. It was initiated to help reduce ignorance and suffering and to expand knowledge and justice in our world. Please sign this petition below.
Rationale: We are familiar with war. We are not very knowledgeable about peace, which is defined as the cessation or absence of war. That
indicates what peace is not but not what peace is. Peace is something
more than the cessation of hostilities. If we exist in a state of
repressed fear, we cannot call that peace.
True peace, like war, is a symptom. While war is the culmination of our
competitive excesses, peace is symptomatic of that which is constructive, cooperative, and nurturing. Whereas war is the most debilitating addiction by which we suffer, peace represents the most wholesome expression of the spirit by which we are sustained.
As a species, we are beginning to realize that we are each a part of a
system of relationships that embrace our families, friends, neighbors,
business associates, groups and organizations, community, nation, and whole family of nations. No single object in nature exists independently. It is apparent that there is no constructive place for hostilities in this pattern.
We simply do not have the time, resources, or energy to waste fighting
with each other. We have serious problems on this planet. There are now 6.2 billion of us. We are increasing at a rate of 80 million a year. Each week we have approximately 1,538,000 more of us to feed, clothe, house, educate, employ, transport, government, protect, and keep healthy.
It s Time to get serious about peace.
We have a Department of Defense (formerly Department of War). Why do we not have a Department of Peace? In fact, a bill was introduced on July 11, 2001 by U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich to create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace. This bill embodies a broad-based approach to peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution at both domestic and international levels. The Department of Peace would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful and secure world.
A brief summary of the Department of Peace legislation follows. To read the entire bill, go to Rep. Dennis Kucinich s web site,
http://www.house.gov/kucinich/index.htm, and click on peace.
A SUMMARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PEACE LEGISLATION:
1. Establish a cabinet-level department in the executive branch of the
Federal Government dedicated to peacemaking and the study of conditions that are conducive to both domestic and international peace.
2. Headed by a Secretary of Peace, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
3. The mission of the Department shall: hold peace as an organizing
principle; endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to
expand human rights; strengthen nonmilitary means of peacemaking; promote the development of human potential; work to create peace, prevent violence, divert from armed conflict and develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution; and take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict and structured mediation of conflict.
4. The Department will create and establish a Peace Academy, modeled after the military service academies, which will provide a 4 year concentration in peace education. Graduates will be required to serve 5 years in public service in programs dedicated to domestic or
international nonviolent conflict resolution.
5. The principal officers of the Department, in addition to the Secretary
of Peace will include; the Under Secretary of Peace; the Assistant
Secretary for Peace Education and Training; the Assistant Secretary for Domestic Peace Activities, the Assistant Secretary for International
Peace Activities; the Assistant Secretary for Technology for Peace; the
Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Disarmament; the Assistant
Secretary for Peaceful Coexistence and Nonviolent Conflict Resolution; the Assistant Secretary for Human and Economic Rights; and a General Counsel.
6. The first day of each year, January 1st will be designated as Peace
Day in the United States and all citizens should be encouraged to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace in the coming year.
Contact Information: The coordinator for this project is Joseph (Joe) R.
Simonetta, Senior Editor of the World Business Academy
(www.worldbusiness.org) and author of Seven Words That Can Change the World (Nov 2001, Hampton Roads Publishing). Mr. Simonetta s diverse background includes having been a U.S. military officer (Army artillery,1996-68). His web site is www.joesimonetta.com. His email address is
jrsimonetta@comcast.net.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Add your name, state, and country to the list below.
2. Forward (cut and paste is best) this petition to others.
3. If you are the 100th person on the list, do the following:
a. Send a copy of the list to lisa.casini@mail.house.gov (Lisa is on
Congressman Kucinich s staff) and to Joe Simonetta at
jrsimonetta@comcast.net.
b. Keep the petition going.
c. Eliminate all the names that you have sent to Casini and Simonetta.
d. Send out the petition with your name, state, and country first
(it s okay that you ve signed twice).
ADD YOUR NAME, STATE, AND COUNTRY TO THE PETITION FOR A U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF PEACE: