The International Day of Peace
September 21, 2023
I think it’s a happy coincidence that my 100th Substack post for the 30-day Gandhi challenge falls on the International Day of Peace. According to Wikipedia, it used to be on the third Tuesday of September, but in 2001 was changed so that it’s always on the 21st.
Today, rather than any stories about Gandhi, I want to plug my other Substack. There is much to be learned from Gandhi’s life and lessons, but the real value is in applying them to how we interact with the world around us. Specifically, I write about how to apply the principles of nonviolence America’s political system in 2024. Check it out!
The Trump-Biden Peace Plan is an attempt to use what I’m calling the Big Truth propaganda technique. Its more famous sibling is the Big Lie; repeating outrageous untruths until listeners believe them. It’s somewhat common to use this model when naming legislation: for example, the PATRIOT Act was anything but.
But what if we could do the same thing with outrageous truths? Hence, the title of the legislative package for 2024: the Trump-Biden Peace Plan. I’m going to estimate that 99% of Americans have never really considered the idea of peace between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They have an inherently adversarial relationship, fueled by a media that loves a good fight. But there are no technical obstacles to peace: Biden worked across the aisle in the Senate, and Trump was well versed in the art of the deal.
The Trump-Biden Peace Plan. Does it make you wonder what peace would even look like? Because the Big Truth is, peace is possible. If you pay attention to local politics, you probably know of many uncontested elections, where the person in office is performing well enough that there’s no desire to pick a fight over ousting them. But in national politics, elections are contested just for the sake of contesting them. It doesn’t matter what the incumbent is doing; political parties thrive on conflict. (It’s a great fundraising technique.)
Anyway, this strategy for collaborative democracy is built on a Gandhian framework that includes the 30-day challenge as a prerequisite for taking on higher roles. Change starts with ourselves! Whether you’re interested in organizing nonviolent revolution or just self-improvement, you’re invited to sign up for the next 30-day challenge, which starts on October 1.
For today’s discussion question: what’s a conflict that you struggle to see a peaceful resolution to?