A Book for Global Peacemakers

Richard Brookhiser looked at competing factions and went back to the development and struggles associated with writing 13 key documents to find a structure for satisfying the human desire for liberty. Rather that produce a ponderous tome for scholars, in 262 readable pages, his Give Me Liberty identifies a peaceful foundation for countries.

     Liberty is closely related to other ideas: consent of the governed, freedom, democracy, and the God-given human rights of equal individuals.

     Beginning with the first English settlement in 17th century Jamestown, Virginia, on the North American continent, colonists objected to sole rule by the London-based Virginia Company's royal governor. They elected members to a general assembly empowered to decide local matters by a majority vote. Although the governor could veto these decisions, it took four months of ocean voyages before the assembly learned his wishes. By 1699, the assembly decided to move to Williamsburg, Virginia, and its elected members became an independent body. The governor retained a veto, but a principle, consent of the governed rather than fiat, was established. There would be "no taxation without representation."

     Back in Jamestown, the first general assembly acknowledged "men's affaires doe little prosper where God's service is neglected." In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson would write: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." In short, human rights are Creator-given to all mankind as part of their human nature. When human rights, which are derived from God, are trampled, as the colonists claimed they were by George III, the Declaration of Independence noted rebellion is justified.

     Around the world, liberty continues to roll out much too slowly for slaves, women, and immigrants. James Madison justified excluding the word, slave, from the U.S. Constitution, because it would be wrong to admit men could be property.  In his 1863 Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln finally affirmed the United States." was conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Two years later the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, but 100 years after the Gettysburg Address, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told a March on Washington the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were promissory notes still unpaid.

     At the first women's convention in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York, the former slave, Frederick Douglass, and the only black person who attended, concluded, "(I)f that government is only just which governs by the free consent of the governed, there can be no reason in the world for denying to women the exercise of the elective franchise." Not until 1920 did the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution eventually grant suffragists the right to vote. Unlike other countries in the world, as yet no woman has headed the U.S. government.

     In opposition to Jewish, Irish, German, Italian, and Scandinavian immigrants, a U.S. voting bloc formed the Know-Nothing Party. In contrast, Emma Lazarus, who was proud of a country willing to take in the poor and oppressed, wrote a poem honoring the waves of immigrants "yearning to be free." With the help of the French engineer, Gustave Eiffel, and funding from Joseph Pulitzer, a Statue of Liberty rose in New York harbor in 1886. Ms. Lazarus preferred calling the statue, "Liberty Enlightening the World." and her poem became the message on the statue's base.

     The Monroe Doctrine began an effort to guarantee liberty throughout the world. On December 2, 1823, U.S. President Monroe sent an open letter to Congress announcing the Americas were closed to conquest. Outside interference, he claimed, would be viewed as "an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." Some 107 years later, in a "Fireside Chat," President Franklin D. Roosevelt prepared the United States to enter World War II by noting the Western Hemisphere was no longer protected by the Atlantic Ocean. A year later Japanese airplanes bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and proved the Pacific Ocean no longer shielded the country either. Liberty needed a defense everywhere in the world.

     By 1980, when Ronald Reagan became President of the United States, the Berlin Wall symbolized 40 years of unchecked Communist expansion. At the Brandenburg Gate in the wall separating West and East Berlin, President Reagan, in 1987, chastised the godless, totalitarian Soviet regime for restricting "freedom for all mankind." He told General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, "(T)ear down this wall," and on November 9, 1989, free men tore down the Berlin Wall.

     It seems, as long as people lack liberty, peace is not possible.
     

   
   


       

Let There Be Peace

As the Singapore meeting of Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump approaches, the words of Sy Miller's and Jill Jackson-Miller's song bear repeating:

Let there be peace on earth

and let it begin with me

Let there be peace on earth

the peace that was meant to be

With God as our Father

Brothers (sisters) all are we

Let me walk with my brother (sister)

in perfect harmony

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now

With every step I take

Let this be my solemn vow

To take each moment and live each moment 

in peace eternally

Let there be peace on earth

and let it begin with me

Peaceful Matchmakers

Can the marriage of Meghan Markle from the United States and Prince Harry of Britain revive  matchmaking for peace? Perhaps their romance was inspired by the marriage between King Seretse Khama, Botswana's first president, and his British wife, Ruth Williams, the love story told in the film, "A United Kingdom." It is said, on Meghan's and Harry's trip to Botswana, they got to know each other, and rumors speculate the country is their honeymoon destination.

     In earlier centuries, monarchs adeptly used strategic marriages to achieve peace. In the 12th century, Henry II of England picked up French Aquitaine by marrying Eleanor, not by going to war. And Sicily's heiress, Constance, joined the Hohenstaufen dynasty's holdings by marrying a German Henry.

     By the 15th century, Henry VII, the first Tudor King of England, arranged his son Arthur's marriage to Catherine, the daughter of Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. His daughter Margaret was married to King James IV of Scotland, which led to a joint crown for Britain and Scotland in the 17th century.

     By 2020, China expects to have more well-educated women than better-educated men willing to marry them. Could these demographics offer an opportunity for new peaceful alliances?
   

     

Artists Invited to The Daydreamers Club

A young friend of mine, Hawwaa Ibrahim, who was a finalist on the "Project Runway, Jr." television show, is inviting artists working in any medium (fashion, art, dance, music, drama, writing, photography...) to share their stories in a social media "Daydreamers Club."

     Ms. Ibrahim believes art is not a waste of time. In fact, she is of the opinion that the stories artists can tell about their refusal to give up, when they encounter obstacles and setbacks in their artistic endeavors, might provide the inspiration people in all fields need to make the world a better place. She thinks there is a lot to learn from the creative minds that know how to put their imaginations to work overcoming adversity.

     Those artists willing to share stories about how their artistic life began and how they have maintained focus despite difficulties, can go to hellohawwaa@gmail.com. In the subject line, write "I Dream in Daytime, and provide your name, email address, and a description of your artistic work, so Hawwaa can contact you.

   

   

Do World Religions Employ the Antitrust Wink?

It would be a rare religious leader who at one time or another failed to express a desire to make the world a better place. As a Benedictine wrote, "That which each of us does to proclaim God's love makes a wonderful difference in our world."

     Are statements like this said with the winks John Brooks describes in a chapter on antitrust price fixing in his book Business Adventures? He tells how executives of competing companies would wink to cancel the following advice: Avoid any agreements, expressed or implied, that could be viewed as violating the 1890 Sherman Act and the 1914 Clayton Act that make setting noncompetitive price levels illegal.

     When Pope Francis could not visit the pyramids last April, because Muslim extremists vow to attack Egypt's Christians, it does seem some who claim to lead the world's religions give their followers confusing signals. And again and again from the hatred turned against Judaism in the Holocaust to the 24 Coptic Christians killed while riding a bus to a monastery south of Cairo and the two men killed when they tried to defend Muslim girls in Portland, Oregon, last month, religious followers get the winked messages.

     But can't signals, such as peace symbols, also be forged to unite members of all religions?

   

North Korea: Bill Clinton's Second Chance

                                 Diplomacy Only Choice for North Korea-US Relations


     On Andrea Mitchel's report July 7, 2017, James Clapper said the only solution he sees for the North Korean situation is diplomacy. To that end, consider:

     President Bill Clinton always wanted a Nobel Peace Prize. He tried unsuccessfully in the Middle East to follow in the steps of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter. From his experience bringing home two U.S. hostages from North Korea, he has credibility with Kim Jong Un. By opening up new contacts with the United States, he could help free Kim Jong Un from the Chinese clutches that threatened to replace him with his half brother, Kim Jong Nam. The last thing Pyongyang needs is more cloistering sanctions.

     President Trump offered Xi Jinping a great trade deal in exchange for help curbing North Korea's threats to South Korea, Japan, and the United States. Why shouldn't Pyongyang benefit from a great U.S. trade deal? Or, better yet, from Tiger Woods' help building a golfing resort in North Korea. Asians love golf.

     No Clintons were among "The 100 Most Influential People" in TIME magazine's annual list in 2017, but Kim Jong Un was. Wish he'd come to the U.S. to attend TIME's New York party for invitees. At least he knows he's on the list with Donald Trump, Juan Manuel Santos, Theresa May, Pope Frances, and other world leaders.

     Couldn't President Clinton bring Dennis Rodman back to visit basketball-loving Kim Jong Un and set up a future exhibition game by the Harlem Globetrotters in North Korea? After all, they are called the Globetrotters. It may be too soon for help with U.S. training methods to pay off for North Korean athletes marching into PyeongChang, South Korea, for the Winter Olympic Games next February. But sending a well-dressed contingent of new speed skating challengers there would announce that their golfers, archers, and badminton and ping pong players will be ready for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

     And isn't it time for the ePals.com website, that enables U.S. classrooms to work on projects with classrooms in foreign countries, to reach out to teachers and students in North Korea to learn about more cities than Pyongyang? Later, President Trump would discover there is a beach city called Wonsan that would be perfect for a golfing resort. Could an earlier North Korean-US partnership classroom project create a toy for Hasbro or Mattel to market?

     Entertainment seems to have a magnetic pull on North Korean leaders. How did Kim Jong Nam lose his chance to succeed his father? He discredited the family by trying to go to Disneyland in Japan. And wasn't Kim Jong Nam's mother an actress and isn't Kim Jong Un's wife a singer? U.S. booking agents might discover some untapped talent in North Korea. Ben Affleck is someone who could handle the challenge of developing an ARGO-type script and acting in and directing a film, not in China but in North Korea.

     With nuclear weapons and long range missiles, Kim Jong Un got the world's attention. He's now in a position to capitalize on a new opening to U.S. diplomatic, trade, development, media, sports, education, and entertainment resources. This is his moment...and Bill Clinton's.

   

   

   

"Let There Be Peace on Earth

...and let it begin with me," advises a song's lyrics. I was reminded of this message, when I saw a suggestion Belgium newspapers had for restaurant goers after terrorist attacks. DeTijd and L'Echo urged diners to finish their meals by arranging cutlery on plates in a peace sign and then sharing their peace message in a hashtagged image of their plates on social media.

     Trendwatching.com went on to list the following ways companies promoted reconciliation among different genders, races, countries, religions and those with different economic advantages.

• In its "Share the Load" commercials, Procter & Gamble's Ariel India laundry brand dispelled the cultural assumption that there is such a thing as women's work and men's work.
• To emphasize the soul-destroying damage bullying does to kids perceived as different, Argentina's Bagley brand turned the smile on its Sonrisa cookies upside down.
• Attacking the distinction some stores make between beauty brands and ethnic brands for Afro-American women, Shea Moisture hair care brand's commercial noted its products are in the beauty aisle "where we all belong."
• Starbucks is helping overcome unemployment among teens and young adults in disadvantaged areas by providing in-store retail and customer service training in New York's Jamaica Queens neighborhood. The program is slated to roll out in 14 additional locations in the U.S.
• In connection with Mother's Day, HSBC, a bank in the UAE, not only provided a series of free workshops on resume writing and interviewing skills to help mothers return to work, the bank also helped kids make videos telling about the skills their mothers offered employers.
• JetBlue thought people could agree, if they had the right motivation. If passengers on a flight reached a unanimous agreement about where they wanted to go, they received free tickets to that destination on any US airline. Their choice and reward: a round trip to Costa Rica.

Thinking about gun violence in Chicago and terrorist attacks around the world, Sister Susan Quaintance, a Benedictine nun, spent one Saturday morning investigating what the psalms had to say about peace. She found references acknowledging our work alone is not sufficient. Believers can take comfort knowing, when it comes to peace, God helps. Psalm 4:9 says, "In peace I lie down, and fall asleep at once, since you alone, Yahweh, make me rest secure."

What Moscow Could Learn from History

After college, a friend of mine, who had studied the Russian language, traveled to Moscow. When she visited again fifty years later, she raved about the changes and couldn't wait to show me photos of modern life there. What seems to be happening in Russia today is a grim throwback to yesteryear from which students who wonder why they should study history, as well as world leaders, can learn.

     Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his oligarchs, who have accumulated great wealth, are a new monarchy that thrives on corruption. Rather than recognize how corruption undermines public support for a government, as China has by prosecuting officials who use their positions for private gain, Moscow has revived a climate of fear and terror to keep its population in check. Dare to confront government lies, as Anna Politkovskaya and Boris Nemtsov did, and you are assassinated. Run Open Russia, an online video operation that informs scattered dissidents of opposition protests, and you suddenly collapse in your office, possibly from poisoning. Blog criticism of the regime and your younger brother, Oleg Navalny, is sentenced to three and a half years in a Russian penal colony. Return from doing Putin's dirty work fighting in Ukraine, and your weapons are confiscated at the border. How long can Moscow keep a lid on a public upheaval? Nicholas II thought, forever.

     By just looking at a map, a young student would expect the vast expanse of Russia to be an economic power house compared to the islands of Japan. Instead, falling oil prices have exposed Russia's less diversified economy which contracted 3.7% in 2015. Oil prices that were expected to improve after an OPEC meeting failed to materialize and remain below $50 a barrel in 2017. When countries, such as Russia and North Korea, focus exclusively on the military, space, and cyber technology, the rest of the economy suffers. Destroy their military and what would they have left to make them a great power? Once Japan and Germany were defeated in World War II, these countries did not make this mistake.

    With nationalism pinned to advanced military weaponry, Moscow has flexed its non-economic strength and expansionary vision in Georgia, Ukraine and now Syria. TIME magazine in October, 2016 recalled the 2013 manifesto of the chief of the Russian general staff, Valery Gerasimov, who wrote, "A perfectly thriving state can, in a matter of months and even days, be transformed into an arena of fierce armed conflict through political, economic, informational, humanitarian and other nonmilitary measures applied in coordination with the protest potential of the population." Apparently Putin assumes such attacks can be directed only from Russia rather than toward Russia as well. In any case, military demonstrations of power and cyber attacks do nothing to correct Moscow's biggest problem, a failing economy. Sanctions imposed on Russia after its Crimea takeover and low oil prices continue.

     Migrants have fled Syria the way Russians abandoned ground when Napoleon's army marched on Moscow in 1812. To the victor will belong a shell of Syria or the realization that two hundred years later a country's power rests, not only on military strength, but on a strong diversified economy and an ability to negotiate a just and lasting peace in the world.

      To this latter end,  U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Putin agreed to meet at the UN on September 28, 2015. Putin expressed a willingness to discuss a joint effort to remove the threat of ISIS in Syria but then sent fighter planes to prop up Syria's regime by bombing rebels attacking a government that has killed, rather than listened to, protesters. However, once Putin determined ISIS had brought down Russian Flight 9268 over the Sinai peninsula in October, 2015, he pivoted to join the US and France to launch a major attack on terrorist forces. However, Moscow again returned to military support for the Syrian government. In August, 2016, Tehran showed its displeasure, when Moscow bragged about using bases in Iran to bomb Syria, by canceling an agreement permitting such raids. After Russia destroyed a convoy carrying supplies to Syrians during a failed ceasefire, the US broke off talks with Moscow regarding Syria.

   

Answers to post about super heroes in certain countries: A-7, B-9, C-1, D-6, E-8, F-2, G-5, H-10, I-3, J-4.

   

On War

War is scary for everyone, but especially for children who grow up scurrying for shelter when they hear air raid sirens, seeing buildings collapse, and suffering the loss of their own legs or parents. It also is scary when children can't walk or take a bus to school, walk through their neighborhoods, use a washroom, take an elevator, or check the Internet without worrying that a bully will block their way, punch them, steal their possessions, abuse them in social media, or shoot them. As General Sherman observed during the War between the States, "War is hell."

Would that everyone would take to heart the line of a song that says, "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

The Society of Friends, known as Quakers, does take this line seriously and members refuse to fight in any war. Others recognize a variety of motivations that justify war as a proportional response to injustice. A country invaded by another country needs to defend itself and protect its citizens. A race of people threatened with extinction should fight to survive. Less justifiable, a strongman decides to take what he wants from the weak. Believers in one religion or way of life seek converts by force.

The spectrum of conflict stretches from diplomacy to economic sanctions to nuclear war. Luke writes in the New Testament about a king who, before going to war against another king, sits down with his counselors and decides if he can defeat twenty thousand with his force of ten thousand. Deciding he can't, he sends a diplomat to offer terms of peace, while the enemy is "a great way off." Other strategists suggest offering an enemy a "golden bridge," a way to save face without going to war. Between World War I and World War II, some believed the pressure of public opinion could keep warmongers in check. Others argue that weakness creates a vacuum that the strong are eager to exploit. And still others observe that an arms race can set off a war not only by choice but even by chance.

We've seen a variety of conflict methods used against and by the United States in recent years.
There was the surprise attack on the Twin Towers in New York City. A diversion enabled troops to enter Osama bin Laden's compound and kill him. Informers were paid to lead the Special Forces that captured Saddam Hussein. Bombs have been carried on and brought down civil aircrafts. New weapons, drones, have been developed to target enemies.

Children think about war, as we know, when we ask them to draw pictures about their feelings. It's always time to talk to youngsters about the importance of respecting others the way they want to be respected, the importance of standing up for themselves, and the importance of praying for peace.