BLESSED
ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
Peacemakers will be the individual soldiers of the
World Peace Force,
living
everywhere on our planet who enforce disarmament,
maintain peace, prevent genocide, & serve
the people.
This is a utopian goal.
But, where there is no vision, the people perish.
What do we think
about the following vision of a
planet without war?
1.
PEACEMAKERS WILL OPERATE IN A DISARMED WORLD.
2.
PEACEMAKERS WILL BE STATIONED IN EVERY COUNTRY.
3.
PEACEMAKERS WILL WEAR UNIFORMS AND CARRY GUNS.
4.
PEACEMAKERS WILL WATCH FOR GENOCIDAL TENDENCIES.
5.
PEACEMAKERS WILL IMPRISON ANYONE WHO VIOLATES THE PEACE.
6.
PEACEMAKERS WILL WORK INDEPENDENTLY RATHER THAN UNDER ORDERS.
7.
PEACEMAKERS WILL PROVIDE AID WHEN NATURAL DISASTERS STRIKE.
8.
PEACEMAKERS WILL BE MORE HONORED THAN NATIONAL MILITARY HEROES.
9.
PEACEMAKERS WILL BE SUPPORTED BY PEACE-LOVING PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.
BLESSED
ARE THE PEACEMAKERS
by James Leonard Park
1. PEACEMAKERS WILL OPERATE IN A
DISARMED WORLD.
When peacemakers finally come into their own,
it will be in a world
without national military forces.
This will be achieved over a period of 100 years.
When the peacemakers have proven that they can enforce peace,
all the nations of the Earth will agree
that there is no further need for national military forces.
Reasonable nations will demobilize on their own.
And the last nations employing their own soldiers
might have to be disarmed by
force.
When all nations are finally disarmed,
it should be possible for just one million peacemakers
to keep the peace everywhere on Earth.
Historically, wars happen when national military forces clash.
When there are no more
armies, navies, or air forces
under the control of national leaders, war will be
impossible.
Violence as a way of advancing national interests will become obsolete.
2. PEACEMAKERS WILL BE
STATIONED
IN EVERY COUNTRY.
Just as the United States of American
now maintains
hundreds of military bases all over the world,
the peacemakers will have settled locations in every nation.
Some of these might be former military bases,
previously used by the military forces
either of that nation or of some foreign country
that used to keep national military forces beyond its
own borders.
Small nations will have only a few peacemakers
living within them.
Large nations will have more peacemakers,
dispersed among their diverse
populations.
The peace-loving populations of every country will
cooperate.
The people and the peacemakers will communicate freely
because the peacemakers will
speak the languages of the people.
However, in order to avoid even the appearance of
nationalism
among the peacemakers, they will
not police their own countries.
Peacemakers will be citizens of the countries from which they come,
but during their years of service for peace on Earth,
they will always serve in
countries other than their own.
Soldiers who speak English will serve in places that
use English:
The USA will have peacemakers from other English-speaking
countries:
Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc.
These countries will have resident peacemakers who speak English
but who are not
citizens of the countries
where they serve.
This language requirement might be
difficult for small countries,
where the natives are the only speakers of their language.
In such cases, peacemakers from other countries
will have to learn the local
languages in order to serve.
In some cases, where there are only a few native-speakers,
most people will also use another language
—whatever
language they use in international commerce.
This language will also be used by the world peacemakers.
Peacemakers might maintain ties to their countries
of origin.
For example, they will have family members somewhere in the world.
And for periods of vacation, they can return to their countries of
origin.
For non-service travel, they will
be required to have passports.
And when they retire from their role as peacemakers,
they will probably return to their countries of origin.
3. PEACEMAKERS WILL
WEAR
UNIFORMS
AND CARRY GUNS.
In order to be recognized everywhere they go,
peacemakers will have uniforms that are known by everyone.
They will live among all of the peoples of the world,
moving freely across national borders without hindrance.
When all nations are disarmed, national military uniforms will
disappear.
Officers of the World Peace Force
will need no passports while
they are in uniform keeping the peace.
(Of course, they might be asked to prove their identities
rather than just present themselves at the border dressed a certain
way.)
Peacemakers will only enforce well-established world law,
not the laws of any locality, state, or nation.
Local, state, & national laws will be enforced
by appropriate local, state, & national law-enforcement officers.
Peacemakers will not take sides in civil wars.
Peacemakers will not support any armed group.
Rather, the peacemakers will
disarm all individuals and groups.
They will enforce world law as it might apply to situations of
civil war
—for
example, when civil war is a form of genocide or mutual genocide.
This might mean that peacemakers will fight against
both sides in a conflict in order to establish peace,
so that the various factions will reach a political settlement.
When all armed groups are
disarmed,
the people of any nation will be forced to think of non-violent methods
for creating whatever law-and-order will emerge after the chaos ends.
Peacemakers will not possess weapons of mass death
—weapons
that can kill
many
people with one decision.
When the peace of the world is disrupted by individuals,
such violators of the peace will be captured and imprisoned.
And when capture is not
possible,
the peacemakers will have the power to kill those who commit war.
The most obvious reason for killing anyone
will be that they are using the weapons of warfare.
4. PEACEMAKERS WILL
WATCH FOR
GENOCIDAL TENDENCIES.
Because the peacemakers will
live in the nations they police,
they will notice the development of genocidal
thinking.
The people of each nation will communicate freely with the
peacemakers.
When law-and-order does break down when a national
leader dies,
the peacemakers will already be
there, preventing killing by anyone.
And where they can foresee such genocide,
the peacemakers will increase
their presence to larger numbers
and bring the appropriate weapons
to prevent ethnic groups from slaughtering one another.
However, the peacemakers of the world
will not interfere with the
political process in any nation.
It is not their job to enforce democracy, monarchy, theocracy,
or any other pattern
of government.
Each nation will have its own way of organizing government functions.
The peacemakers will keep
the people from killing one
another
in any form of genocide—organized or unorganized.
Each nation will decide its own form of government
after the elimination of national military forces.
The peacemakers will not interfere in any political process,
except to prevent and/or combat genocide
and to prevent all forms of ethnic, religious, or political killing.
Because the peacemakers will be operating in a
post-military world,
there will be no
more military dictators anywhere on Earth.
People who previously have kept themselves in power
by using their military forces will have to find other means
to become leaders and to continue governing their nations.
When genocidal dangers increase anywhere in the
world,
the peacemakers will increase
their presence in those locations.
Anyone committing genocide will be imprisoned (or killed if necessary).
Where national
governments collapse for whatever
reasons,
the peacemakers will not attempt to create new governments.
The people of each nation-state will have to create their own systems.
And even for a period of years,
the
peacemakers might have to patrol
the failed nation-state until a new political order emerges.
But the new order will not
be based on military force.
The people will have to talk
with their adversaries rather than shoot
them.
The World Peace Force will keep people from killing one another
while those people create their own national destiny.
5.
PEACEMAKERS WILL IMPRISON
ANYONE WHO
VIOLATES THE PEACE.
Especially during the period of transition
—when
there will still be lots of people bearing arms—
it will be necessary for the peacemakers to maintain
prisons,
where violators of world peace can be kept
for as long as they are dangerous to the peace of the world.
In some cases, military leaders in prison will lose
all of their power
once their armies have been disbanded.
They can be released from prison
as long as they will not attempt to re-establish their armies.
In effect, they will be on
parole for the rest of their lives:
If they make any moves in the direction of re-arming,
the peacemakers will return the former military leaders to prison.
6. PEACEMAKERS WILL
WORK
INDEPENDENTLY
RATHER THAN
UNDER ORDERS.
Even tho there will be one million peacemakers in
the world,
they will not operate as a
typical military force,
which traditionally has been controlled by a central command.
There will be good coordination among all peacemakers,
so that they can work together when necessary,
but they will not be
directed by a hierarchy that decides what they do.
Rather, peacemakers will be more like local police
officers:
They know what keeping the peace means
and they enforce disarmament wherever they find
violations,
without being given specific orders from above.
Because of this decentralized authority,
there will
be much less reason to worry
that the peacemakers themselves might
try to
take over the world.
Other peacemakers would restrain any such rogue cops.
7. PEACEMAKERS WILL PROVIDE AID
WHEN
NATURAL DISASTERS STRIKE.
Peacemakers will be employed full-time to maintain
the peace.
And when our planet becomes a peaceful place to live,
active peacemaking will no longer be needed very often.
But the peacemakers will also be trained and equipped
to help people anywhere whenever natural disaster strikes.
Because they do not need passports when on duty and
in uniform,
they do not need to ask
permission to cross national boundaries
in order to assist in disaster relief.
There will be peacemakers already living in the country
where hurricane, flood, or earthquake happens,
so they will go to work immediately,
in cooperation with everyone who survived the disaster.
Equipment and supplies will already be stockpiled
and available to the peacemakers when disaster strikes,
even in countries that have few national resources at hand.
And the peacemakers in nearby nations will join relief efforts,
without having to consult any national leaders.
8. PEACEMAKERS WILL BE MORE
HONORED
THAN NATIONAL
MILITARY HEROES.
Because peacemakers preserve peace for the
whole planet,
they will be honored by all peace-loving people everywhere.
It is difficult to imagine peacemakers being higher than military
heroes
because all of the history of the Earth
has been dominated by tribal groups fighting one another.
Each tribal group has honored its own dead,
who died "serving their country".
But the peacemakers will be honored for "serving the world".
Some will die in their service as peacemakers.
But most will die natural deaths after they have retired,
just as most local police officers do not die in the line of duty
but from natural causes after retirement.
A peaceful world will mean that
millions fewer people will
die each
year in wars.
And everyone who appreciates this dramatic turn in world history
will honor the peacemakers who make it possible.
After the end of national military forces,
there will be no more people employed by any nation
to defend that nation
or to commit war on
foreigners.
The warriors of previous generations can still be honored,
but when there are no new
generations of national military heroes,
the people to be honored will be the peacemakers of the world.
9. PEACEMAKERS WILL BE
SUPPORTED
BY
PEACE-LOVING PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.
There will be several more attempts at international
peace-keeping
before peacemakers who are
not controlled by any national government
can establish and
maintain peace.
All observers of the international efforts to
make
peace
using national military forces
will notice that regular soldiers are always suspected of enforcing
the national interests
of the nations from which they come.
The taxpayers of any nation will be free to support
the peacemakers.
But basically the WPF will be supported by peace-loving individuals
who have access to money they can provide to finance peacemaking.
I hereby offer $100 to start world peacemaking.
This will be given to the first organization
that makes the first steps toward creating peacemakers.
And if during my life-time, such an organization emerges,
then I will be free to give more money.
Millions or even billions of other peace-loving
people will join.
And after the end of national military forces,
which were supported by taxes in most countries,
we will all have much more money to support peacemaking.
In short, the money that
previously went to national military forces
will then be available to
support the peacemakers of the world.
And the total cost of peacemaking will be a small
percentage
of what the peoples of the world are now paying
to support their national military forces.
Some nations will oppose the peacemakers,
either temporarily because the peacemakers
are enforcing anti-genocide
laws against them
or permanently because they do not believe in world peacemakers.
There will be no universal tax to support professional peacemakers.
But if they continue to do a good job,
all of the peace-loving peoples of the world who can afford it,
will continue to send money to the World Peace Force.
The fact that they are paid by the people of the
world
will keep the peacemakers accountable.
It will always be known what they are doing.
And they can expect to lose support from nations they police
vigorously.
But when a genocidal movement somewhere
requires hundreds of thousands of new peacemakers,
the other peoples of the world will pour in more money
because they support actions to control
genocide.
National
governments
and national taxpayers
always have their own vested interests to enforce.
Only rarely will national governments actually pay peacemakers.
But the first efforts in this direction will show that it can work.
For example, Canadians are a small group of people
who tax themselves to provide peacekeepers for the world.
Other enlightened taxpayers might decide to fund the peacemakers
instead of supporting
national military forces.
I would expect even the United States to come into this camp
once the peacemakers have shown that they can do a better job
than all of the national and international forces of previous attempts.
Any individual or organization anywhere in the world
that has money will be
eligible to support the peacemakers.
This includes governments, who usually raise money from taxation.
This also includes private charitable foundations, corporations,
religious organizations, & peacemaking-support groups
created especially for the purpose of funding the peacemakers.
At first, the peacemakers will probably be
self-funded.
This means they will operate as volunteers,
supported by their own funds and their own families.
The writing of this essay is one small example of a self-funded effort.
I am not being paid for putting these words on my computer screen.
And I do not expect ever to receive any financial rewards
for the time I have devoted to the idea of peacemakers.
If I am willing to donate my time to the effort,
there will be thousands of others similarly motivated
by the desire to have a peaceful world,
even if we will never live to see that goal achieved in our own
lifetimes.
In the past, it has sometimes been the worse angels
of our nature
that have pushed us into war against other nations or groups.
But in the future, the better
angels of our nature will fund
peacemaking.
Peace-loving people everywhere will support the peacemakers.
Created
August 17, 2008; Revised 10-1-2008; 11-20-2008; 12-3-2008; 5-6-2009;
9-25-2009;
6-19-2011; 9-2-2011; 11-5-2011; 11-9-2012;
1-26-2013; 7-19-2013;
8-29-2013; 9-17-2013;9-23-2013; 10-20-2013;
3-19-2014; 8-14-2014; 3-10-2015; 7-7-2015; 4-20-2016; 9-21-2016;
1-3-2017; 12-4-2020;
LINKS
TO SIMILAR THINKING:
The future we create will depend on what we imagine
now.
And the Internet will be one way
that creative thinkers anywhere on our planet
can share their visions of a world without war.
When such similar thoughts are discovered,
they will be linked from here.
This
Internet essay has now become a chapter of a book:
World
Peace Force: Disarming the Planet Earth.
This
discussion of peacemakers is Chapter 1.
Here
is the complete
table of contents,
which shows the rest of the book,
discussing all other dimensions of this proposal for a World Peace
Force.
A Facebook Group is assembling,
which will discuss this book in an organized way
once the first 100 readers have joined this FB Group:
Peace on Earth:
Establish a World Peace Force,
Then Disarm all Nations.