Conflict Resolution (Also see Nonviolence)

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Community Affirmation: Peace, Not Nuclear Weapons

July 27, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

This Community Affirmation was affirmed at the June 1982 International Religious Convocation for the Second United Nations Special Session on Disarmament.  It remains timely today.   Community Affirmation   We who live in the shadow of the mushroom cloud and the dangers of bullets on our streets Today declare our hope in the future.   From the diversity of our religious traditions We have come to renew our belief in the holiness of the earth and the sanctity of all life. We declare we are at peace with all people of good will.   We need no leader to define […]

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Smart insights to distinguish “conflict” from “abuse.”

July 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Someone sent me an e-mail expressing support for “Conflict is Not Abuse” from Sarah Schulman.  I searched for information about the book and found this very insightful article.  It offers smart, practical and compassionate ways out of the traps that many people — especially progressives — get into regarding how we deal with social justice issues at an interpersonal level. Rather than try to summarize her helpful insights here, I encourage you to read this information about her book: https://www.thestranger.com/books/2017/01/10/24792575/sarah-schulmans-conflict-is-not-abuse-is-a-guide-to-keeping-the-peace      

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U.S. Militarism Promotes Gun Violence. To reduce gun violence here, reduce military violence worldwide.

July 10, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

“Climate deniers” refuse to acknowledge the human causes of the climate crisis. Likewise some people try to blame gun violence on far-fetched causes such as popular music or pornography, even though those are common in other rich nations with very little gun violence. Deeply embedded in U.S. culture is an excessive willingness to use military violence. The U.S. has a long history of mistakenly thinking that violence solves problems. The U.S. has started wars to dominate other nations, especially since the 1898 Spanish American War. In the past 120 years the U.S. military has overthrown dozens of nations. We have […]

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To protect immigrants, let’s de-polarize the U.S.’s political culture.

June 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Many problems that are plaguing the U.S. are rooted in various kinds of polarizations.  Oppressors use a “divide-and-conquer” strategy to disempower ordinary people so the oppressors can grab more power and enrich themselves financially.  They polarize us by pitting race against race, religion against religion, straight people against LGBTQ people, and native-born people against immigrants. They also polarize us by emphasizing nationalism, so they pit nation against nation.  They promote wars and nuclear weapons. All of these polarizations draw from the same roots.  In order to protect immigrant rights — and all people’s rights — and in order to prevent […]

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To Achieve Social Justice, We Must De-Polarize Our Society

June 17, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Oppressors often use a “divide-and-conquer” strategy to keep populations divided so the oppressors can dominate them.  This has been happening in the U.S., as it has in other countries. The remedy is for people to recognize and expose the oppressors’ scheme — and to bring all demographic groups together to de-polarize our society. Unfortunately, some people who are oppressed buy into the polarization and get angry and vengeful against other demographic groups that have been set up by the oppressors as polar opposites.  These people unwittingly serve the oppressors’ interests in keeping the population divided. The real remedy is to […]

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Better than defeating Trump’s supporters, let’s heal them and convert them to better values. And let’s heal ourselves too.

June 4, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In the past few decades the U.S. has become increasingly polarized — and increasingly rigid — and mutually hateful to the people on the “wrong” side of issues.  This is NOT sustainable for democracy, nor for a free society, nor for human rights.  People in each of the two big political parties want to DEFEAT members of the other party through dynamics that seem warlike or genocidal. Trump has escalated the polarization horribly, not only across political parties, but also across races, nationalities, religions, sexes, sexual orientations, economic classes, and other demographic variables.  THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE, but people in […]

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Profound Nonviolence for a Truly Just Society

May 15, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In slightly more than three pages, the article at this link provides wisdom, compassion, insights, and encouragement to fix our society’s problems. I believe you will find that reading this is a good use of your time. Here is the link: Profound Nonviolence for a Truly Just Society

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This powerfully insightful article helps us understand progressives’ infighting over race, gender, etc.

May 5, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The article at this link — https://www.alternet.org/activism/progressive-infighting — offers many very fresh insights that can help us move forward. I urge people to read the entire article. I’m summarizing a few key points below (and identifying which additional comments are my own). The entire article fleshes these out and adds more insights. I highly recommend reading the article at the link in this paragraph. The article’s title – “Here’s Why Some Progressives Are Tearing Each Other Apart” – is bold, accurate, and highly relevant to the organizing crises many of us have been experiencing in the past few years. The […]

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The real problem of violence is NOT mental illness. The real problems are ANGER and ACCESS TO GUNS.

February 25, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

When mass shootings occur, many politicians try to shift attention away from the gun and blame the shooter for mental illness.  Yes, our society should provide more adequate funding and services for mental health.  But the problem is not “mental illness” per se.  The problem is ANGER.  Our society needs to explore and implement a wide variety of ways to reduce anger throughout our society. Consider this article about ANGER:  http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/04/anger_causes_violence_treat_it_rather_than_mental_illness_to_stop_mass_murder.html Do not let gun supporters avoid responsibility for the too-easy access to guns.  They want to blame mentally ill persons.  Instead, we must reduce access to guns, so consider […]

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We must DEBUNK “the Myth of Redemptive Violence.”

February 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

U.S. culture has long perpetuated what has been called “The Myth of Redemptive Violence.” Look at the plots of movies about the Wild West, about cops & robbers, about spies, etc. Nearly every movie ends with a big shoot-out in which “the good guys” use violence to defeat “the bad guys.” The U.S. assumes that our military is “the good guys” and we can use violence to defeat “the bad guys” just like in the movies. The problem is that reality does not work that way. The U.S. LOST the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Violence is also PROFOUNDLY […]

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Oppressors are ALSO our brothers and sisters. Nonviolence recognizes this.

February 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

“Nonviolence isn’t sitting back with your arms folded. It is first recognizing that the very person who is your oppressor is also your brother or sister. One day he or she may stop being your oppressor, but they’ll never stop being your brother or sister.” — Jose Maria Pires, in Mev Puleo, The Struggle Is One: Voices and Visions of Liberation

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“Nonviolence Is Ethical, Practical, Powerful.”

December 17, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

The general public — and also many people in progressive movements for peace and social/economic justice — do not understand nonviolence adequately.  People could make much more progress in working for issues we care about if we understood nonviolence more thoroughly and if we grounded ourselves more profoundly in it. The January 2018 episode of Glen Anderson’s TV series “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” helps people understand nonviolence more richly and encourages them to practice it more effectively. Watch the video at this link:  “Nonviolence Is Ethical, Practical, Powerful.” Read a transcript at this link:  2018.01 Program Summary — Nonviolence After I […]

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“Empowering Ourselves for Profound Democracy”

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

In modern American society, people recognize that giant impersonal systems have too much power, and often they oppress us.  These include big business corporations that cheat us out of our money, destroy our environment, outsource our jobs to low-wage countries, buy the politicians who make the political decisions, and own the media that control how we perceive the world and what we learn and think about political issues. The big impersonal systems also include governmental systems that make wars despite public opinion and protect big business interests in defiance of the public interest. All of the problems we face seem […]

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Understand Korea. Don’t bomb it.

December 3, 2017 GlenAnderson 0

Understand Korea.  Don’t bomb it. During much of 2017 Trump has vented anger and ignorance against North Korea.  He has rejected diplomacy and threatened to utterly destroy the nation and kill 10 million or more of its citizens. Decent people know we must reject Trump’s terrorism. Also, we must reject the U.S.’s 65-year-long history of threatening war (including nuclear war) against North Korea.  It is within this long-standing history of U.S. foreign policy’s ignorance and violence that Trump was able to vent his own ignorance and cruelty. If you want to resolve a conflict with someone, it is necessary to […]