World Peace: Now and Then

Remember the 1960’s when the threat of communists and nuclear war was as feared as terrorists are today? When wholesome, Cadillac-owning Americans had bomb shelters in their basements stocked with canned tuna and Rice Krispies?

Well, maybe you don’t remember first hand, but I’m sure you caught some of it in history class or (better yet) period films. And yes, Hairspray counts…I guess. Where leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy outwardly spoke of peace and yet so much war and fear was brewing on a global scale.

I lingered on the subject since I was reading a speech I received in an email the other day that was given in June of 1963. John F. Kennedy was its presenter in his 3^rd year as president and soon after this speech was given (as some remember and others have read or seen) he was assassinated.

The topic was ‘world peace’ and while reading I couldn’t help by notice how much its words described our current world stage. It seems the history that isn’t too far behind us may already be repeating itself. And since Weearth prides itself on mass global communication, I found the topic all too appropriate.

In the speech, President Kennedy emphasizes the dangers of nuclear warfare and how it must be prevented at all costs. He also speaks in great length of the Soviet Union and how important it is for the 2 countries to stop fearing each other and come to a compromise through diplomacy.

He states, “Let us reexamine our attitude toward the Soviet Union. It is discouraging to think that their leaders may actually believe what their propagandists write.” If I’m not mistaken America, and the rest of the world for that matter, still has a growing fear of nuclear terror today, but not from Russia; from the Middle East and Korea. The only difference I’m afraid is there is little talk of peace today. Nor is the mention of possible bias towards foreign countries or “propaganda” called into question, at least in the United States.

In his plea for peace, Kennedy doesn’t attempt to proclaim America’s moral superiority, nor does he speak of America as a shining city upon a hill. Instead, he takes a realistic approach, saying, “let us examine our attitude toward peace itself…our problems are manmade—therefore, they can be solved by man.”

He goes on to plead for a “practical approach” for peace. But at the same time he never suggests that we do nothing, stating, “we can seek a relaxation of tensions without relaxing our guard.” He speaks of engaging with the Geneva Convention to secure arms control and mentions political allies as being a resource where ideas can converge.

Kennedy points out that “no government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue,” which is a sentiment we often forget and has been shared by important historical figures like Anne Frank, who wrote in her diary that “despite everything” she believed people were still “good at heart,” even as she was being persecuted by the Nazis.

While speaking on a topic that is poignant today, he points out that, “no treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion. But it can…offer far more security and far fewer risks than an unabated, uncontrolled, unpredictable arms race.” He even goes so far to state that America “will never start a war.” Too bad that didn’t stick.

Which leads me to this painfully philosophical question. Can world peace ever truly be achieved? Since the word ‘peace’ is so subjective in itself I find it hard to define the term. And I find myself questioning the question, as it sounds like something a candidate for Miss America would try to answer. Which is sad since peace is usually affiliated with lovey-dovey tree huggers who like to wear tie-dye in an age where it’s no longer appropriate.

However, there are times when this almost idealistic sentiment seems possible; when countries all over the world mourn and support a nation such as the United States after a terrorist attack, such as 9/11; or when summits are held by feuding countries like Israel and Palestine; or when an adolescent girl writes a passage in her diary about the goodness of human kind, although the world has been unjust to her; or when a man called Mahatma Gandhi manages to suspend violence in northern India by passive resistance and peaceful example.

But we tend to contradict ourselves when the very leaders who openly speak of peace are publicly killed. I believe in order to achieve peace we must be able to remember the good in people that is worth fighting for. Not with guns or nuclear weapons, but with acceptance, an open mind, understanding, the ability to forgive and most of all, as Kennedy said, to try and achieve “life on earth worth living…not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.”