Written by Washington Peace Center   

By Barbara Wien

Resistance to war is building worldwide and may be reaching critical mass in the near future. This may seem like an insensitive or foolish claim when the U.S. is waging three bloody wars and massacring tens of thousands of people (see timeline of 20 years in Iraq, page 6-7). Yet, there is evidence. We can hasten the demise of war by spreading peace education in every possible setting, by transforming the role of soldiers and military institutions for a global environmental recovery race, and by supporting nonviolent struggles unfolding around the world for economic equality and democratic participation.

In 1962, Thomas Kuhn first suggested that a set of ideas, theories or schools of
thought, known as paradigms, can become dominant, self-reinforcing and self-perpetuating. In his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn posits that paradigms are born out of a society’s structures, such as race, gender and class. These paradigms become a system of logic unto themselves, although they may be fundamentally flawed. Research stems from these paradigms and produces flawed outcomes. People and societies come to believe or depend entirely on the flawed paradigms, which serve only the interests of the ruling class.

This is true of today’s war system. But what was once enshrined and celebrated can be reconsidered. Contradictions or flaws in the theory may emerge. A group of people come along and challenge the dominant views, turning the whole notion on its head. A revolution in thought or a paradigm shift occurs, changing forever the way we view history, societies and ourselves. This happened with the institution of slavery, and is happening at this moment with the institution of war.

The Seville Statement on Human Violence, the work of hundreds of social scientists, archeologists, anthropologists, primate specialists and peace researchers, debunks the myth that the human race is hard-wired for war and violence. They posit there is stronger evidence that the human race is naturally cooperative or our species would not have survived this long, and war is a social construct which serves the interests of war profiteers. War is not fixed in nature like gravity in the cosmos. The Seville Statement challenges us to evolve to a higher stage of human development.

Young people brought up to believe in the inevitability of war are much less likely to work for peace. Societies supporting war produce successive generations which unquestioningly send their youth to die. Feeding children a steady diet of media violence and glorified war further desensitizes them to human suffering, numbs their capacity for empathy, and ensures they will not challenge the use of force. But more families and educators are rejecting such brainwashing. Millions of young people are graduating from peace and conflict resolution programs rejecting racism, violence, and economic inequality. They don’t believe in war anymore.

Military force is an outdated paradigm. There may always be those who push for violent solutions out of greed or fear, but they are the minority. Most of us are tired of war draining our purses and treasuries when vast human needs remain unresolved. The world is rapidly moving beyond the old model of violence and the use of war as an instrument of foreign policy to a richer, deeper sense of human security. We are aching for cultures of dignity and peace.

Barbara Wien is a peace educator, activist, and mother who currently teaches Peace Education at American University.