Thursday, October 15, 2009

Obama, Peace is Now

By Dustin Axe

By now it is common knowledge that Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Critics are looking for tangible results worthy of this prestigious award. They point out that he has merely delivered speeches and set forth changes to policies established by the Bush Administration, but that there have been no tangible results to date. Asking why he won is a valid question, especially when the President himself questions it, “To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize.” I will attempt to argue the contrary. I will argue that Barack Obama is definitely a valid recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and I will explain that we are living in one of the most peaceful times in history.

I am in no way suggesting that Obama is somehow responsible for world peace. After all, he has had national and global attention for only a couple of years. Even though he rightfully established a time line for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, he has elevated fighting in Afghanistan in order to bring “peace and stability” to the region. Even the morning he won the Nobel Peace Prize, he met with military advisers to discuss the possibility of deploying 40,000 more troops to the region. This will only fuel terrorism and instability in an already unstable country. The philosophy that invading a country will create peace, the so-called Bush Doctrine, is ludicrous. There is a protest sign that reads, “Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity.”

However, if one has a problem with Obama winning they actually have issue, not with Obama, but with the Prize itself. As it is defined, it is awarded to a person or organization that is in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace. It is a symbolic award given to someone who ushers inspiration and creates momentum for a set of just causes. Martin Luther King, for example, won in 1964 for advancing equality. In no way was this goal reached in 1964, nor is it accomplished in 2009, but he definitely created momentum for a just cause. Similarly, climate change was not reversed in 2007 when Al Gore brought to light the reality of global warming, but he too created momentum for change.

Obama had taken on many challenges that definitely have not been met, but they are in the process of being resolved. He is establishing a time line for the withdrawal from Iraq, reversing policy regarding climate change, ending torture, and closing Guantanamo Bay. He has also ushered inspiration and changed the hearts and minds of millions of people. The rekindling of international diplomacy has redefined America’s place in the world and changed the attitude people have towards the United States. These are tangible results that are important during a War on Terror where hatred fuels terrorism. Likewise, he has given hope to millions of people in the United States and around the world that the past eight years are finally over; that hatemongering and terror brought to millions of people from the Bush Administration is coming to an end.

Barack Obama, without a doubt, deserves this "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” What is more peaceful than fostering diplomacy and inspiring millions of individual people to make the world a better place? Critics are quick to point out that he has merely delivered speeches, but they forget that Martin Luther King’s accomplishments came from speeches and rhetoric alone, and Al Gore merely delivered presentations. Both of these men, however, are valid recipients, and so is Obama. What more does he have to do? After all, this is the 21st century. Even with George Bush’s War of Terror, the 21st century, put into historical context, is already one of the most peaceful times in recent history.

The Bush Administration’s decision to invade a country that did not threaten America has already cost more than a half million people their lives and millions more have developed deep seeded hatred for the United States, which will only fuel more war. But the reality is war and violent crimes have declined in the past two decades. There is merely a perception that we live in dangerous times, because information technology creates the feeling that somehow each day we are closer to danger and the end is near. We are constantly inundated with information technology that gives us a distorted impression that somehow the world is much more dangerous and violent than it really is. Our daily lives are flooded with headlines from the internet, radio and 24 hour news television. Every international conflict around the world is reported in doomsday fashion, and we hear reports and see images of every storm, child abduction, and shooting from around the nation as if somehow these are the only things taking place.

I am in no way dismissing tragedies in Rwanda, Darfur, North Korea, Tibet, or Saddam’s Iraq as less then horrible. But conflicts around the world today, taken together, do not compare with histories of the past. The events on 9/11 and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 21st century pale in comparison to Germany’s desire for world domination, the Holocaust, Soviet expansionism, nuclear armament, Stalinism, and Maoism of the 20th century. The American Civil War alone made the 19th century more bloody than anything we experience today. Two percent of the American population was killed, which would well exceed 5 million people today.

Throughout most of history societies in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia had an elite warrior class, whose trade was his or her ability to fight. When called upon, a knight or samurai, for example, would have to appear with his soldiers fully armed to defend a lord or vassal state. Likewise, every peasant or serf at one point in his life would have to rise in defense of home and hearth. Many soldiers today, on the other hand, choose to fight, not because they have to, but because they want a jump start in life. Millions of people seek more education and training opportunities by joining the armed forces. They see it as a stepping stone to a better life, not an actual way of life. This, of course, does not include millions of people in war zones who do not have the luxury of choice, such as child-soldiers in Africa. But in general, the warrior class in many societies has been replaced by a middle class that is almost entirely peaceful. Even the middle class base of the conservative party in the United States, despite their drum beating and war chanting, is peaceful. They cheer lead war from the sideline, but they do not fully believe it is worth fighting, otherwise they would join the army.

I once wrote, “We have made no moral progress towards eliminating war. Yet, war has made insurmountable progress towards eliminating us.” After spending the better part of my adult life reading and studying war and its affects on everyday people, especially the poor, I find I must reconsider this statement. Humans have not only made progress towards eliminating totalitarianism, theocracy, and slavery, but there has also been a conscious effort to eliminate war.

Why? I honestly do not have an answer at this time. It may be a positive outcome of two world wars in the 20th century. After World War I Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Price for his efforts in creating a governing body, the League of Nations, designed to prevent war. Wilson was stonewalled by politicians in his own country, so the United States did not join the League, but global efforts were still being made to eliminate war. (This is very similar to stonewalling Obama’s is experiencing with ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay, etc.) The Second World War was by far the deadliest war in history. Over 100 million soldiers worldwide were mobilized to fight on nearly every continent. Cities were firebombed, million of people were systematically cremated, and atomic bombs were dropped. In all, 60 million people lost their lives in what is known as a ‘total war’, one that completely blurs the distinction between civilian and military life. Following the war, millions of people called for the eradication of war, either through governing bodies, such as the United Nations, or through just plain international consensus.

Perhaps efforts to end war is not due to the effect of two world wars, but rather nuclear armament and high-tech weaponry developed during the Cold War. Perhaps the stockpiling of large arsenals in the last half of the twentieth century and the threat of nuclear proliferation in our time has made war far too dangerous, in terms of weapons and technology, to be treated like it has been throughout all of history. Regardless the reason, there has definitely been a shift in consciousness to end war.

Unfortunately, neo-conservatives and everyday Americans seem to be slow in recognizing this trend. For 30 years, starting with the Regan Administration, neo-conservatives have threatened world peace by recklessly disregarding cultures, traditions, religions, and governments by invading other countries. And too many everyday Americans are easily fooled into thinking these wars are justified. This is party because of the overall lack of understanding of history, particularly of WWII. The greatest consequence of that war is that it gave Americans the perception that somehow war is justifiable and profitable. Most other countries that experienced war firsthand in the 20th century see it as something that should be questioned and opposed. But even in America, war is questioned more and more. The longer Americans experience the new War on Terror, the longer they see it for what it is--bullshit. As Bob Dylan suggests, “times they are a-changin.” Merely 30 percent of Americans continue to support the current occupation of Iraq.

Yes, armed conflict will continue forever and millions of people will perish in war, many of which will be preventable. Nation states will continue to draft and conscript soldiers to create standing armies. Obedient citizens will continue to be misled into supporting war, and private armies and terrorists will continue to kill for personal gain. But more and more people will join millions of regular people who look at war critically. They will ask what we can learn from it and how we can prevent it. They will engage in nonviolent civil disobedience, such as marches, tax refusal, and active refusal to take up arms, and parents will discourage their children from joining an army. The Military Industrial Complex cannot exist without consent or soldiers.

Without soldiers the common defense would be determined by individuals, not corporations or governments. If a nation was threatened by an enemy that directly threatened its citizens it would have no problem fielding an army. Citizens would rally together, train, fight and defend their home. Instead, governments lie to their citizens to gain support for wars that benefit a small number of people and corporations. Of course war existed before the state, but today’s governments are responsible for war by letting special interests of select individuals influence decision making. A truly democratic nation that held its officials accountable for their actions and one that only carried out the will of the majority of the people would not fight in unnecessary wars.

This is why we must oppose government at all costs. But we cannot forget that war is ultimately fought by individuals who make a choice to do so. Individuals have a responsibility to disobey and oppose governments who wage unjust wars. It is up to individuals to not only refuse to participate in war, but to also treat their neighbor with respect and to help those who are less fortunate. Mohandas Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” In other words, it is up to us to create a peaceful world. Obama recognizes this when he graciously accepted the Nobel Peace Prize by saying it is a "call to action” to create peace that does not belong to just him and his Administration; that the responsibility of creating peace does not belong to presidents or governments. It is up to individuals everywhere to make a conscious decision that war and violence is wrong.

Peace is now.