“Full-time approval seeking means that instead of just living your life, you have to act it out. Waiting for a bus on a neighborhood street corner, you can’t just wait for the bus. Every once in a while you have to step off the sidewalk and peer into the distance, doing a performance of someone waiting for a bus. Otherwise, one of the bystanders might think you’re up to no good.”
“peace-building”. I have come to suspect the term.
does peace need to be built? worked at? developed?
what is peace?
peaceful is who I am when I’m not stressed.
peaceful is what I am when everything’s alright.
my natural state.
that is peace.
peace has no substance - it is simply the lack of constriction and plight.
peace is the social condition prior to conflict. a peaceful society is one that is successful at resolving its conflicts as they arise.
it follows that what we need is not to build peace, it is only to remove the structures that are preventing it. and to do this, we first need to get very clear about those structures.
who are those using terms like “peace” and “war” to avoid an honest look at the true power relations that create conflicts?
what do they mean by “peace-building” exactly, and whose interests are they trying to promote?
what is this “peace” that they are trying to “build”? is it engaging in true reconciliation, or sweeping the undesired effects of domination under the rug?
