[gha] Re: Regarding Glen Martin's Helpoful Comment for the new GHA Book

  • From: "Martin, Glen T" <gmartin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "Bruce Cook, AuthorMe.com" <cookcomm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "gha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <gha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Peace Group <peace-from-harmony@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:18:40 +0000

Dear friends and colleagues,

In the light of Bruce’s timely reminder of the many dimensions of peace studies 
as reflected in the list below (and in the light of Maríía Cristina’s 
perceptive earlier remarks about seeing things as a whole), perhaps we should 
consider an introduction to the book that reviews these dimensions and places 
the actual articles in the book within the larger framework of the science of 
peace as it has blossomed worldwide within the past 50 or more years?   Then 
the first two chapters could be Leo’s chapters on his GPS, which would be 
excellent, but all the different views in the book would have already been 
reviewed in the Introduction that places our collective work in GHA within that 
larger worldwide movement.

This is put forward simply as something we might want to consider.

In peace and harmony,
Glen Martin

From: Bruce Cook, AuthorMe.com [mailto:cookcomm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 12:02 PM
To: gha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Peace Group
Cc: Martin, Glen T
Subject: Regarding Glen Martin's Helpoful Comment for the new GHA Book

Dear GHA Members:

I have felt deep disappointment to see our overall reaction to Glen Martin's 
very helpful comments on our new book. Many thanks to Maria Christina Azcona 
for her recent efforts to improve this.

In my view, we must deliberately avoid personal attack and we must discipline 
ourselves to accept criticism in a positive way. (Believe me, I am too familiar 
with my own reactions to criticism, and I find have to constantly suppress my 
own "knee-jerk" reactions.)

Thus, in the spirit of harmony and peace, and a personal appeal for all of us 
to improve  our new book, I ask that we shift the focus back to the original 
comments from Glen Martin, which I quote (in part)  below. Can we please try to 
consider these ideas as we develop our manuscripts?
Thoughts from Glen for the new GHA book:
In our book, we need to consider these comments from Glen Martin and take them 
seriously. He is helping us see new directions for peace studies.
1.       ...the vast contributions to understanding the violent dynamics of our 
world made by Max Weber, Immanuel Wallerstein, Jürgen Habermas, and others.

2.       ...the global ethics movement and the great amount of work done on 
defining global ethics on behalf of peace.

3.       ...the theory and practice of nonviolence and the vast amount of work 
coming from the inspirations of Gandhi, King, Tolstoy, etc.

4.       ...the worldwide movement for the study and practice of nonviolent 
communication led my Marshall Rosenberg and others.

5.       ...the role of capitalism in the promotion of war, a literature 
spearheaded by Marx and continued by many others.

6.       ...[the literature on] totalitarianism, its forms and roles in war and 
violence… [considering] the literature on that subject, led, for example, by 
Hannah Arendt.

7.       ...the institutions and motivations usually associated with war and 
violence: multinational corporations, systems of exploitation, 
industrial-military complexes, militarized sovereign national security states, 
terror and counter-terror, undemocratic structures of governing, motives for 
imperialism, patterns of hate, fear, and ignorance, etc. – things that are most 
often taken as causes of war and impediments to be overcome through a process 
of both dialogue as well as structural changes.

8.       ...the vast literature on human rights and human dignity and its 
contributions to creating peace and harmony.

9.       ...the ethics of care and compassion and the literature around that 
theme.

10.     ...the positive things that are usually associated with the 
establishing of peace: conflict resolution, authentic democratic modes of 
governing, economic conversion to peaceful goods and services, dialogue 
directed toward mutual understanding, nonviolence in theory and practice, 
nonviolent forms of communication, economic and social justice, truth and 
reconciliation processes, respect for human rights and human dignity, etc.

11.     ...the ethical, structural, social, and psychological characteristics 
of a world peace system (as opposed to the present war-system)

12.     ...how the four societal spheres can be effectively and properly 
differentiated or what value it would be to approach society this way.   Each 
set of social information – humanitarian, instrumental (informational), 
organizational, and technical would seem to apply to all the spheres?...  Just 
collecting data is not going to create peace.  the ethical, structural, social, 
and psychological characteristics of a world peace system (as opposed to the 
present war-system)?
Now that I have reiterated these important thoughts, please spare me the 
personal attacks we've had to endure. Isn't it obvious that, as a peace group, 
we need to be at peace with each other? The members of GHA represent an 
articulate "think tank" seeking harmony and peace. Let's learn to work with 
each other and continue to make a significant contribution to world peace.

Yours in pursuit of harmony and peace,


Bruce
Bruce L. Cook, Ph.D.
President, GHA-USA
Vice-President, GHA
Director of CSSS Publishing and Editorial team
President, World Writers Resources, Inc.
Author, Harmony of Nations: 1943 – 2020, Just Fiction Editions, 2012
1407 Getzelman Drive
Elgin, IL 60123 USA
312-859-8090<tel:312-859-8090>
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http://www.peacefromharmony.org/?cat=en_c&key=544

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