Peace on Earth

The latest Thinking Out Loud podcast has been released on iTunes. The session was recorded Wednesday, Dec 5, and the topic was "Why don't we have peace on Earth and what would it take to achieve it?" Thank you, Derek Breen, for circumventing the threat of inclement weather and debilitating gameday traffic by arriving on foot. Hopefully circumstances will more accommodating for our other local participants next time. Certainly our cyber participants enjoyed a certain advantage in this regard. Thank you, Debbie Martin from Boca Raton, Fl, and Steve Stokes from Atlanta, GA. We had a great discussion.

Here are some of the questions we wrestled with:

Why is this longstanding human desire taking so long? Is there something peculiar about mankind? Is human aggression different from aggression we see in nature? Where does aggression come from? How is individual violence different from the collective violence of war? How does collective action give "permission" for violence committed by individuals? Why don't individuals simply refuse to commit violence even when given permission by nations at war? Is it realistic to hope for eventual universal individual enlightenment as a solution? How does group identity and ideology justify aggression? Is war ever justified? Are wars of self-defense any better than wars of aggression? Are there longstanding peaceful nations we can look toward as role models? Can weaker nations enjoy peace only when the stronger nations dominate the conflicts? How is technology changing the balance of power among nations and other smaller organizations or groups? Is it possible to transform aggressor nations or groups? Do inequality of resources and real or perceived injustices justify aggression? Are nations just behaving like living, growing organisms with legitimate needs for resources? Are there sufficient avenues to address basic needs by nonviolent means? Would self-imposed population control be sufficient to end conflict? What can be done about the increasing appetites of the developed nations? Can a common global threat unite otherwise hostile people? Might the increasingly dire, global climate crisis be such a threat?

To subscribe to the podcast with your podcast software (such as iTunes or iPodder) copy and past the following link into your software:

www.citizenphilosopher.com/rss/tol_podcasts.xml

If you have iTunes, you can find us listed in the Apple Music Store directory under Podcasts/Society & Culture/Philosophy, or just do a search in iTunes on Thinking Out Loud People. The direct iTunes link is:

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=214321935

If you don't have iTunes or other podcast software and just want to download the mp3 file directly, use this link:

Listen to the broadcast (mp3)

You are invited to add your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" link at the lower right hand corner of this post.

The next Thinking Out Loud will be Wednesday, January 2, at 7:00 pm. The tentative topic for next time is

"What is our conscience and can it be trusted?"

If you want to lobby for another topic or refine this one, feel free to send me your suggestions. In the meantime, best wishes for the holidays and, of course, peace and prosperity for all.

Cheers,

Steve