Peace Visioning Resources and Ideas
Peter Bergel
I have been working on the peace visioning think tank concept as I can
amidst the press of other duties and commitments. Here is what is
going on from this end:
1. Salem, Oregon's MyPeace Project is moving ahead pretty well. Visit
www.mypeaceproject.org for information and details. It is a local
experiment in peace visioning.
2. I have held a couple of brainstorming sessions around peace
visioning and have a couple more tentatively scheduled (one in
Portland, OR and the other in Eugene, OR).
3. I met yesterday with an ad hoc group of enthusiastic local
organizers who were excited about the peace visioning idea as a
prerequisite to good progressive strategizing.
4. In order to enable the rest of you to plug into this process more
actively, I have just uploaded two files on the peace visioning think
tank Google group site that you may want to view and contribute to.
(You'll find them under "files.")
The first is an Excel database of suggestions that have emerged from
brainstorms, discussions and my reading, about possible components of
a comprehensive peace vision. I have assigned to each idea a sector
and a sub-sector so that users of the database can sort on these
fields. I also included fields for the source of the idea and the date
I entered it.
The second file is a Word doc where I record more general ideas
(though some probably belong in the database) that might help us
eventually formulate a comprehensive peace vision. It is a looser,
less disciplined collection that will eventually have to be "tamed"
somehow.
I invite you all to look at these files and email me your specific
visionary ideas in an attachment with the same format as the database.
(My email is pbergel (at) igc.org.) I will undertake to add your
contributions to the master copy posted here. If you think your
idea(s) belong in the Word doc, you can just email them to me and I'll
add them. (Do whichever you think makes most sense). Remember: the
Word doc can only be word-searched. It can't be sorted.
I also encourage you to discuss these ideas with those of your co-
workers who "get" the peace visioning concept (which not everyone
does, I find) and if they are interested and have something to add,
invite them to join the Think Tank Google group.
Lastly, I think this group might take the first tentative steps toward
considering what format a comprehensive peace vision might be
presented in. One possibility is a document format, of course. Another
might be video. Others might involve art. Another question is: how
detailed should it be? Yesterday's group initially liked the idea of a
very simple basic concept, such as sustainability or cooperation vs.
domination as the core of the vision, supplemented by a number of
examples from different sectors.
The goal, as I see it, is a vision that can be "shopped around" to
progressives all over the country for a "buy in." Then, if we can all
say yes to the same vision, we can each strategize how to achieve our
particular pieces of the vision. We don't need unity of action --
which we have never been able to get anyway -- all we need is unity of
vision. Then, as we pursue whatever strategies we believe will move us
toward the part of the vision that deals with our issues, we can
continually hold up the comprehensive vision, saying, "we're doing
what we're doing because we think it will lead to that envisioned
goal." If the public hears the same vision coming from every part of
the movement, I believe it will be enormously more compelling than any
of our individual actions or causes.
Your responses are welcome and solicited.
Peter Bergel