Ukraine is the latest crisis on my mind (and probably on yours as well).
Rather than drop into my protector plateau and rant about Putin’s derangement, or throw patriotic support to back up Ukraine (both of which I believe strongly in!)…
I would like to step back and ask ourselves this:
How can WE, as representatives of humanity, step up and away from the cycle of investing in violence?
The west has an equal role in fomenting this conflict, and in fact, through continuous investment in the machines of warfare, and demonizing our so-called enemies, we are inviting in the inevitable violence.
When it arrives, we pretend to be innocent and call for more investment in violence to protect ourselves and others from the evil doers.
This cycle has been running for a few thousand years… and I dare say it ain’t working.
I also believe that for the first time in human history (that we know of), we have the opportunity to break this cycle by speaking, mobilizing, voting, spending and opening our hearts at scale to end it once and for all.
The days of warlords wreaking havoc on helpless populations out of scarcity, greed and fear are numbered. (You may disagree with me, but I include the leadership elite and military-industrial complexes of all countries that armor up for war in the bucket of “warlords,” not just the mad dictators.) My friend Charles Eisenstien has a much more eloquent take on this integral level view of the coming reign of peace in this article. Here’s an excerpt:
“May we look first for the humanity and divinity of all we meet. May we be free of all vestiges of the habit of organizing the world into good guys and bad guys. May we see and cease our own role in the creation of enemies. May we believe so strongly in the possibility of compassion of others that we become a walking invitation that calls it forth into reality. And finally, as we live this prayer, may we see it reflected in global events. In fact, let us insist that it be so.”