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This is the outline of a talk I once gave at the FOR Peacemaker Training Institute.
FIRST, DO NO HARM (Hippocrates): consider consequences short term and long term, intended and otherwise.
EARTH FIRST/GAIA (Lovelock): the earth, its creatures and its elements are a single organism of interacting, interdependent parts; avoid tribalism, nationalism, classism.
PRACTICE RIGHT LIVELIHOOD (Buddha): avoid co-optation; avoid vested interests; overcome addiction and distraction; seek socially useful projects/employment/avocations
PROPERTY IS THEFT (Proudhon): own less; consume less; avoid debt; travel light
TRUST THE ROAD (EK): take risks; security is an illusion; get beyond the US & Western bubble
SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY (Thoreau): live simply so others may simply live (Gandhi)
SLOW IS BEAUTIFUL (Schumacher): speed kills; freedom is never having to be in a hurry; drive less – walk and bike more
BITE LESS, CHEW MORE: pace yourself; don’t over-extend; value quality over quantity
GOD IS IN THE DETAILS: be mindful; treat all work as craft
QUESTION AUTHORITY (Socrates): write pointed letters to the editor; resist the machine – avoid being a cog; access non-US and alternative media
NEITHER A LEADER NOR A FOLLOWER BE [EK]: subvert hierarchy; subvert patriarchy – no bosses here! avoid concentrating power
KEEP MEANS AND ENDS CONSISTENT (Gandhi): the personal is political; every act, every purchase, is a vote
RESIST MILITARISM: violence breeds violence
IF YOU WANT PEACE, WORK FOR JUSTICE (Pope Paul VI): peace without justice = structural violence
DON’T LIE…or fib: lying is covert violence
BUILD COMMUNITY: mend fences; don’t compete – cooperate; include others; care for the “least of our brethren” (Jesus)
Ed drew these points from many sources. Reach him at [email protected].
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