FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .
An article from WeChat (translation by google)
(Editor’s note: The Chinese name of this organization can also be translated as “X-Youth Peace Organization.”)
[International Day of Peace] Three-line Declaration of Peace
Today, September 21, is International Day of Peace. Here, we first quote the “Peace Declaration” initiated by the International Peace Culture Website:
“I’m sick and tired of the culture of war. I support the culture of peace. I will continue supporting it on social media until we win.”
— Declaration of Peace
(Photo received at CPNN from X-Youth Peace OrganizationWar is not a gene, it is an invention.
David Adams is an American peace activist, scientist, scholar, author, and journalist. He is the former director of UNESCO’s International Year of the Culture of Peace project and the founder of the International Peace Culture News Network.
Not long ago, we had the opportunity to exchange his understanding of peace at a forum.
He began by telling a story from his youth, during the Sputnik and Cuban Missile Crisis. His generation realized for the first time that the world could be destroyed by nuclear war.
After that, David spent some time researching the mechanisms of aggression in the brain. He worked in university labs for 25 years, publishing about 100 scientific papers, trying to figure out: how exactly does aggression work? Could a way be found to “brake” on the violent genes in humans?
But 25 years later, he came to the opposite conclusion: aggressive brain mechanisms were not the root cause of the danger of World War III.
Those who plan wars are not necessarily “aggressive.” They may simply be presidents, generals, or officials performing their duties.
The real problem isn’t in genes, it’s in culture.
Later, he participated in convening scientists worldwide to formulate the “Seville Declaration on Violence.” The answers given by geneticists, animal behavior experts, and anthropologists are: “The same species that invented war is capable of inventing peace.” ——Margaret Mead
War is not genetically determined. War is an invention. This means that it can also be replaced.
The culture of peace was once enshrined in the United Nations, but was subsequently silenced.
David later went to UNESCO to promote the “Culture of Peace” project. The first projects were selected in El Salvador and Mozambique, which had just emerged from civil war. They brought together former combatants from both sides of the civil war to jointly plan education, culture, science, and communication projects.
They then submitted these proposals to major powers, requesting funding.
Result: Major powers refused to contribute funds.
“I didn’t understand then, but I do now,” David said. “Those big powers don’t want peace. They profit from the military-industrial complex, and peace would threaten their profits.”
Later, the Southern countries pushed for the establishment of an “International Year of the Culture of Peace” at the United Nations. In 2000, the UN system adopted the “Declaration on the Culture of Peace.” However, major powers opposed it. Although it was eventually adopted, a clause was added stipulating that funds could not be used to promote it.
The 2000 Manifesto collected signatures worldwide: millions in India, 15 million in Brazil during Carnival, and about 40% of Colombia’s population signed it.
(Article continued in the column on the right)
Does China promote a culture of peace?
(Article continued from the column on the left)
However, UNESCO later changed its Director-General, and the project was halted. David later ran the “Peace Culture News Network,” publishing stories of peace culture from around the world daily, and wrote *A History of War Culture*. He drew two conclusions:
First, nation-states have monopolized the narrative of war culture;
Second, the most important weapon in the culture of war is the control of information.
In fact, there exists another tradition in the world—one that is not based on conquest and hegemony, but on harmony. For example, Chinese culture, which has existed for over 5,000 years, emphasizes “harmony and unity.”
This precisely confirms David Adams’s judgment: a culture of peace is possible.
The three-line peace declaration, the baton is passed to the youth.
In a recent forum, we analyzed several long-term trends in the world today, and ultimately agreed that:
A global economic collapse is looming.
Perhaps this economic collapse will give rise to a new civilization in the future, but at this stage, those of us dedicated to peace work need to first spread the declaration of peace and the culture of peace to more young people.
This peace declaration contains only three lines:
“I’m sick and tired of the culture of war. I support the culture of peace.
I will continue supporting it on social media until we win.”
Many people, upon seeing this declaration, would find “until we win” too radical.
David responded in the forum: “Yes, it is aggressive. We need to be aggressive for peace. The fight for peace is, in a sense, a struggle. It is not meditation, but action.”
The Heart Youth Peace Charity Organization, representing young people, understands the “aggressiveness” of this action for peace. We cannot simply call for peace verbally; we need more action to wake more people up—war is a packaged lie, it is not the only way to solve problems, and we have the opportunity to choose peace.
In the view of the Heart Youth Peace Charity Organization, peace is not just a grand narrative, but also an everyday capability. We never expect to change the whole world overnight, but we believe that every encounter and exchange paves the way for a new era of peace in the future.
“Perhaps humanity will not be able to completely say goodbye to war in the short term, but at least—the next generation will know that on this planet, there are always people working for peace and never giving up.”
You can see each other from both sides of the mountain.
Gandhi said:”We are all climbing the mountain of truth, but some of the paths are on the other side of the mountain so we don’t see them.”
David, the founder of the International Peace Culture website, comes from the West, but he also saw the lies of war and the possibility of peace. He started by studying human aggression and eventually moved towards a culture of peace.
David, from the West, once said: “I firmly believe that to understand the culture of peace, one must first understand the culture of war, including its history, organization, strengths and weaknesses.”
On this side of the mountain, Chinese culture has a spirit of “harmony” that has lasted for thousands of years, and the historical wisdom of “turning swords into plowshares”.
The Heart of the East Youth Peace Charity Organization also started by studying war, and has firmly embarked on the path of seeking peace.
Global cultures may differ, but peace is not an unattainable goal; rather, it is another new era of civilization that humanity can choose.
“When the power of love overtakes the love of power, the world will know peace. ——Jimi Hendrix
“Another world is possible.” ——World Social Forum
If you also embrace a culture of peace, you are welcome to share these three lines of declaration and reflect on how to do something small and concrete that relates to peace in your daily life:
“I’m sick and tired of the culture of war. I support the culture of peace.
I will continue supporting it on social media until we win.”
Today is International Day of Peace, and we would like to add a sentence to this three-line Declaration of Peace:
Peace is what we do today.
*This article is based on excerpts from a seminar with Dr. David Adams. For more information, please search: Culture of Peace News Network
Xin