Skip to main content

PEACE, PAZ, PAIS

All this justification for guns and war, all of this justification for killing people, I wish it would stop. Why can't we spend more energy justifying peace?

Violence begets violence. For the religious folk, isn't your premise that an eye for an eye was replaced for the love and peace and forgiveness in the New Testament?

While I am not religious, I nevertheless, do not want people killed in my name. I wish the entire world could enjoy peace and love, for there is far too much killing and hatred.

That might strike some as a naive position, reminiscent of the 60's hippies. And admittedly, I am a hippie. I am one of those far left, democratic socialists from way back when I lived in Canada and voted for the New Democratic Party, a party where Bernie Sanders would have been at home.

But politics aside, and naive as my position may be, if we give up on even hoping for peace then surely we have already lost. And is it really a bad thing to want peace? Is it not a good idea to love people, to wish for a life without poverty? Do we not want a world where children are safe and grow up educated? Is it really a controversial idea to try to accomplish these goals without resorting to war and violence?

These are difficult times, yes, but we've faced hard times before.
Let us face these problems as one people, a peaceful people. Let's unite in a global initiative of world citizens unencumbered by political division and superpower braggadocio, to stop the killing, stop the hurting, and find peaceful solutions to the problems of income inequality, climate change, diminishing resources, poverty, educational opportunities and health issues, that plague us all.


Wishing you all a happy, healthy and peace filled Christmas.
Stephen Lonsdale




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ON THE CUSP OF A RADICAL PARADIGM SHIFT

It has been a long time since I last wrote in this blog. I have been busy with music projects and writing novels. In fact, I am writing my ninth novel right now and am just taking a break. I wanted to get back into keeping up with my blog but didn't want  it to become a format for political rants. Let's be frank, the political landscape is abysmal and folks have never been so divided and so entrenched in their views. I am no exception! Rather than regurgitate the dogma and doctrine of one party over the other, I am guided by the tenets I have long adhered to: democracy, equality under the law, opportunity, justice and a strong social safety net. I welcome diversity in all forms. I believe we should all be accountable and responsible for our actions. Worker's rights, women's rights, these are important to me as basic human rights. Income inequality is a huge issue. Of course, captains of industry deserve the right to have the largest piece of the pie. T
Post a Comment
Read more

POSTURE

It is acceptable in martial arts to adopt any particular kamae, or “posture,” as an expression of one’s self in an artistic or stylistic manner provided it is a sound stratagem in and of itself or that the individual is so adept at the posture it makes her effective in a self-defence scenario.  In many cases, a particular kamae or posture signals the style of martial art the person has studied. The straight up posture, fists clenched, arms out and slightly bent, legs in a wide stance could indicate a karate practitioner. Arms up, away from the body, palms toward the opponent, might mean a Muay Thai fighter. The various forms of Kung Fu, indicating the Tiger, the Dragon or the Praying Mantis are distinguished by their exotic postures, and so on. How we present ourselves in daily life and in a non-martial context gives people hints about ourselves. Whatever way we present ourselves can be considered our kamae, our posture.  This begs the questions, just how does the world perc
Post a Comment
Read more

AESTHETIC DISTANCE

I love films. I have always loved films. In high school during the very early seventies, I was able to take a film arts course along with English courses, media and communications. I loved it. Film is art. The famous MGM logo with the lion’s roar that prefaces so many famous movies incorporates the Latin, “ARS GRATIA ARTIS” which means “art for art’s sake,” and was designed in 1916 by Howard Dietz. The saying is credited to the 19th century French philosopher, Victor Cousin and was written as “l’art pour l’art.” One of the basic lessons I learned in film arts was the concept of aesthetic distance.  This concept originally applied to literature refers to the gap between the readers, or as in the case of film, the viewer’s conscious reality and the fictional reality constructed by an author of a book or the director of the film.  Of course, in film there are so many more variables to be considered, actor’s craft, lighting, cinematography, music et cetera.
Post a Comment
Read more