Survive Together
We Must Work Together to Solve Our Social Problems
By Linda Henderson
Published March 18, 2007
in The Peace Alliance
Linda is Michigan State Coordinator for the Department of Peace Campaign. She wrote this column for the Lansing State Journal.
The World Health Organization says we spend $300 billion a year due to interpersonal violence in this country alone. More than $400 billion is spent on the Pentagon each year, with an additional $500 billion spent on the present conflagration we have pre-empted our way into internationally.
It is time for a level of maturity in ourselves and our government that reflects a deeper, more responsible wisdom. We need to quit reacting to our fears and become proactive in our desire to effectuate a safe and secure environment.
That does not come from the military or police, which, by definition, are reactionary forces. It comes from a mutual respect for the social contract human beings enter into in order to live in peace with each other, regardless of our differences.
Sadly, violence prevention is the least emphasized and least taught principle in our schools and throughout society. We do have some ad hoc programs, as long as the grant money does not run out. But we continue to put our tax money on the wrong end of the equation.
We complain about taxes, cut programming and then complain that government did not respond properly to the tragedies that ensue from the abandonment of those very programs. This is nothing less than insane.
We grieve the loss of our dear friend Bob. The knowledge that Robert Busby was killed by a homeless person with substance abuse problems shot a flare in the night sky of this violence. Why was Robert in the position of trying to address this issue when it ought to be the business of the entire community to address the desperation of those lost among us?
This is not to excuse the violence, but to attempt to address it in a meaningful and effectual way - on the front end.
While our governor is right to look to address the present budget crisis by early release of non-violent prisoners, and at the same time attempting to turn our state into a knowledge-based economy through addressing educational needs, we need to go further.
We would be wise to pay whatever taxes, volunteer whatever time, and create and support whatever government programs that begin with addressing poverty, mental and physical health issues (including substance abuse), raising the bar on educational equity and institutionalizing the systematic learning of nonviolent conflict resolution throughout the public education system.
Do not tell me violence and war are the inevitable results of human nature. Humans are a species of free will. It is time to evolve, not because it’s a “feel-good” idea, but because we can no longer afford not to and survive.
I know a wise woman who has so aptly put the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you … because they will.” It is not charity, it is self-preservation.