Hope in a Dark Time: A Book Review
by Marc Pilisuk

In press Peace and Conflict
Hope in a Dark Time: Reflections on Humanity’s Future David Krieger, Editor (2004) Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press

Is There Really Hope for Peace?
Marc Pilisuk
Saybrook Graduate School and the University of California

I have always had a special place in my heart for those whose spiritual grounding has enabled them to see good in a troubled world and to work for it with remarkable devotion and tireless patience. But reared in the Western Enlightenment tradition I have always looked at the evidence that brings skepticism to the view that the forces of good, or even the requisites for the continuity of human life, will prevail. I approached David Krieger’s anthology, Hope in a Dark Time: Reflections on Humanity’s Future wishing that a new magic bullet of insight might be found to justify optimism, but also with a fear that there would be no more in this book than calls to faith, without compelling evidence, that the loving, caring, dissenting and organizing efforts of the day had turned the corner toward a world of peace. Neither my wish nor my fear was realized. What did emerge, however, is the possibility that something new and hopeful may actually be emerging in these troubled times. Given the magnitude of the horror we face, that little light is something to be cherished.

For those who love this human experiment and the ecology that makes it possible, the times look grim. The industrial revolution has run its course and has created a set of highly potent players. The wealthiest mega-corporations are designed to require expansion if they are to survive. They have merged into powerful conglomerates blindly gobbling what remains of forests and of oceans. With no accountability for the well-being of the communities in which they conduct business they nontheless extract the greatest promises of low taxes, the best land, the cheapest labor, the fewest environmental restraints only to provide jobs in the short term and then move on to sites that offer them still sweeter deals. They are usurping the remaining sources of oil and gas, of arable land and clean water. They are undoing the commons that have been developed to provide safety, security and joy for all humans and have turned governments into contracting agencies by which education, health and medical care, national defense and care for the environment are turned into commodities that are traded to increase the wealth of a decreasing number of players. Poor nations are obliged to subsidize their own plunder through the interest they must pay to wealthy centers of finance on their development loans. The International Forum on Globalization, in another anthology, presents a rich understanding of corporate globalization and of the alternatives needed to change it (Cavanaugh and Mander, 2004). Lost in the wake of this earth-wide push are those who, in the absence of public action, find themselves victims of disease because known carcinogens are unregulated, of ignorance because schools lack funds, of hunger because jobs at low wages do not support a family, and of aggression because the global market makes weapons readily available and because violence is continually presented as the normal way without need for examination of its roots (Winter et al , 2001; (Pilisuk, 1998 and 2001).

Those whose resources and livelihood have been displaced have been reduced to competing for such crumbs as places in a refugee camp or a homeless shelter, for jobs in sweatshops or vying for the repositories of toxic wastes. Some of the displaced are forced into the vast trafficking of young women or of illegal drugs. Many have become angry at the US government, but also at their own pro-corporate governments that remain in power by the military support, (weapons and mercenaries) without which they would be unable to stem the rising dissent. Some of the displaced have opposed the arrogance of a government that plays by its own rules in disregard for international law while insisting that its model of enterprise and of government are universal. Among the opponents are labor leaders, community leaders and religious leaders who are being harassed or killed by paramilitary groups. Some, as individuals, and others, as parts of larger networks, have determined to strike back violently and have provided the current rationale for a continuing warfare state, sustained by fear. Its daily toll is high but is minimized by an increasingly centralized corporate media that reinforces the message of what is most important: shopping, promotion of the self, the lives of entertainment celebrities, and the punishment of those who act out against “decent” people (McChesney. 1997) Even the public language of values and morality has been shaped to justify arrogance, greed, restrictions on human rights and even torture (Lakoff. 1996)

Then there are the daily reminders, the paucity of resources to provide relief for targets of genocide or victims of disaster, the attempts to vilify the UN, the reductions of food aid in the federal budget, the military recruitment of poor teen-agers with false promises of opportunities clearly not available at home, the return of injured and traumatized veterans to inadequate rehabilitation and to the ranks of the homeless, the attacks upon legitimate life choices and upon the social security safety net, the closing of schools and libraries, the report of a federal deficit out of control even as taxes are reduced, the denial of permission to air on television ecumenical religious messages of peace, racial and ethnic profiling, and attacks upon the positions of some academics who speak for peace.

It is hard to rank the causes for despair and surely they are related. But the risks of nuclear war are particularly worrisome. The recent military collaboration between major military powers China and Russia, the militarization of outer space, the proliferation of nuclear weapon states, the rollback of treaty obligations that held some prospects for diminishing the risks of nuclear war are matters that merit attention, the moreso for the low level of public attention that greets these blunders. Are the human capacities for psychic numbing (Lifton, 1995), for denial and for distraction (Milburn and Conrad, 1996) an inevitable ally of the those who exploit without mercy in the pursuit of wealth and power?

I sometimes go through daily tasks wondering whether I am in a land of collective denial. I am tempted to shout out to others to “Scream out before we are lost,” but restrained because I fear that it would do no good. And yet I recall the studies by Hannah Arendt (2004) showing how unbelieving were the German people of the magnitude of what was happening during the rise of Hitler. Would we know if we had gradually entered the worlds of perpetual degradation foreseen by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell many years ago? It is with awareness of the danger that we grasp for signs of change.

The search for hope in this book begins with a foreword by Desmond Tutu reminding us that one does not rely upon external light to show the path through a dark tunnel but upon an inner light that strengthens our resolve. With it, Nelson Mandela emerged from 27 years in prison to lead the country that had tried to silence him in a remarkable process of non-violent forgiveness and reconciliation. Tutu reminds us of the African word, ubuntu that means we can only be human together. Krieger in the introduction argues that hope is not always rational within the perimeters of what is known. Hope must sometimes be irrational and dependent upon events we cannot quite foresee. Surely that was the case for the hope that led to the actions by Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The question then changes from whether we can be correct in having hope, to whether we, by our actions, can create the hope that will make the world a better place. And we do this without a map of just what actions will amplify beyond our powers to see the future. Bill Cane notes that Lincoln’s assassination depressed his friend DD Adams, whose daughter, Jane Addams was then motivated to establish the settlement houses giving hope to a generation of immigrants. Jane Addams’ Hull house was visited by Myles Horton who returned to Tennessee inspired to create the Highlander School to promote racial integration and social change. Martin Luther King recommended Rosa Parks for a stay at the school, just weeks before she refused to move to the back of the bus. But what actions are right for the rest of us? Whatever they are, Cane reminds us that good actions, however small. need endless repetition and that there is great power in personal communication.

Joanna Macy’s contribution is to open our eyes to a revolutionary turn that is already well under way. It is not being televised and it may or may not succeed. Yet it is plainly visible. The great turning has three elements. The first, activism, includes the organized efforts to curtail the abuses of the environment and to oppose the rush to war and the mistreatment of people. Activism works through policy advocacy and through direct actions and is very much alive. The second element is the support of system change by starting to play under different rules i.e., creating alternative indices to the GNP that include quality of life and health for all people, beginning new methods of land holding, co-housing, fair trade practices to prevent exploited labor, use of renewables and local and sustainable food practices. Third there are signs of a revolution in consciousness, a scientific and spiritual convergence emphasizing connections and interdependence rather than boundaries and competitive acquisition. Surely George Lakoff’s (1996) work suggests a powerful resistance to the latter view among those inclined to punitive models of the family, but that latter model of disciplined self-centered pursuit reflects a limited view of psychological development. Its popularity has required a deliberate and well-funded movement to gain support (Frank, 2004) while humanistically oriented change seems to be growing organically. Perhaps one marker of this radical turn can be seen in Frederick Frank’s chapter in which to be fully human is presented as the alternative to be embraced if there is to be a future. With a small group of friends he resurrected the view that the same reverence for life that has motivated so many of the great humanitarians is to be found everywhere. And it seems true as we now witness a myriad of little groups springing up to offer solace, to reflect upon where we are and to provide imaginative new projects.

Krieger’s chapter sets a tone for the belief that people are more powerful and more compassionate than one would suppose. He cites inspiring examples of people who have turned their pain into remarkable examples of healing; the hibakusha, who do not let their radiation induced illness prevent them from traveling the world over to remind people of the horror of nuclear weapons and the need for peace. He points to Hafsat Abiola, a young Nigerian woman (also represented in this collection) whose parents were both assassinated for promoting democracy and who went on to found the Kundirat Initiative -- working continually for democracy and for women’s rights in Africa. The murder of a 12-year-old Pakistani boy who had escaped to tell the world of enslaved child laborers led another 12 year old to create the Kids Can Save the Children organization. It is responsible for the liberation of thousands of indentured children. The creator Craig Kiellburger, is included in the volume as is his brother, Marc, with a testimony to the unsung powers of children, now working in 35 countries, teaching skills of survival, of conflict resolution and of the dangers of nuclear war.

The power of the forgiveness process has barely been tapped. It offers a pride and nobility to those who confess to their part in oppressive actions and seek forgiveness and restoration. This enables once competing parts of the human community to live in peace and without fear of retribution. Barbara Marx Hubbard adds the power of evolutionary consciousness. The same power that melded the sub-atomic particles into living forms in viable settings is still alive in the life forms that have evolved. It is visible in the ability of humans to shape the evolutionary process in ways yet beyond our imagination. Daiseku Ikeda shows how a Buddhist view helps us add the hidden powers of connection and empathic dialogue to the tools that bring forth extraordinary accomplishments from ordinary people. Joseph Rotblatt shares the experience of mobilizing scientists to use their knowledge for peace and human betterment. Students pledging to do the same with their future work surely have followed this lead.

Other contributors remind us of the web of International organizations and NGO’s that continues both to alleviate human suffering and to promote education, sustainability and peace. Their work continues in times of special crisis and beyond crises to eradicate the dark time that has befallen us. Elise Boulding notes that, unbeknownst to most of us, the UN quarterly Chronicle reports on its six major bodies, 13 associated bodies, 16 specialized agencies, five regional commissions, 20 research institutes, two Universities and varying numbers of peacekeeping and observer commissions. Few activist groups assisting refugees are aware of the magnitude of the work of the UN Commission on Refugees, few peace activists are aware of the UN Institute of Disarmament and few who fight poverty know of the UN Research Institute on Social Development. Boulding sees on the horizon a new model of citizenship, one that shows love for one’s community but also for the diversity within one’s nation state. Beyond that she sees us as needing to know and love our United Nations, slow and imperfect bureaucracy that it may be, as the embodiment of our most sacred principles and our commitment to global justice. We also find a large number of NGO’s that , like the UN, are working diligently to preserve land, protect environments, feed people and heal them, teach reading and sustainable farming, protect human rights, and insist upon visibility and accountability from corporate excess. Psychology has been clearly represented in efforts to build cultures of peace (Wessells, Anderson and Schwebel. 2001). These groups do not go away when their efforts are sadly not enough but rather they find meaning and satisfaction for their participants, rewards that many more are seeking.

But one might ask whether the institutional forms needed to sustain and to enhance such activities can possibly evolve with the reach called for in these troubled times. Through formal actions of nation states, efforts to bridge national sovereignty have created the United Nations and more recently the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, from the grassroots, unofficial organizations like Witness for Peace and The Non-violent Police Force have appeared on the scene to prevent military violence. Amazingly the world has seen previously unimaginable indigenous participation in the Earth Summit in Rio, the World Conference on Women in Beijing and the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre. An informal communication network assures that no matter where in the world the small cabal of powerful bankers and government officials hold there G7 , WTO, or IMF meetings, they will be met by truly massive protests from those whose voices are excluded. A network of email messages contributed to the largest ever global mobilization of people opposing the invasion of Iraq. As that war fails quite visibly, the movement may gain strength in the minds of even greater numbers of people. Falk and Strauss suggest that the forms, already evolving may soon take a step toward global democracy in the formation of a Global People’s Assembly. Such active participation of civil society, though currently frowned upon by the governments of China, Russia and the US, might nontheless emerge from a conference of NGO’s providing the UN with a model for ratification and support by member states. Or it might evolve informally by seeking voluntary contributions to provide a continuing platform for peace and social justice activities between annual meetings of the World Social forum.

Several chapters remind us that an individual can publicly declare non-support for nuclear weapons or be a teacher of non-violent practice and that such activities are effective in cementing our connections with larger social forces. Such actions are effective also in the creation of symbols with a power that may capture the imagination of others. The book includes moving documents. The UN preamble notes that we the people have joined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, to establish conditions for justice and international law, and to promote social progress. The Earth Charter reminds us of the psychological attributes of creativity, conscience, reflection, language, empathy and love that make possible the choice of peace. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes a set of conditions that could assure the humanity of the entire human family. What is needed is the will. Scattered throughout the book are poems of peace and of dedication helping to convey the message that hope is less an assessment of the current state of the world than a matter of our motivation to create a better one.

Is there reason for hope? I look at the ways that corporate globalization and militarism have strengthened their controls over almost everything else. Then I look at the great examples, in this book, of institutions that have evolved with peace as their mission and of actions of dedicated people that hold unforeseeable power for good. The examples often seem small in relation to the degree of entrenched power that perpetuates endless war to further insatiable greed. And perhaps that is the message. i.e., that acts both small and large are occurring even while the old empire hangs on. If we can see them as a tapestry that so many of us are weaving together, then perhaps hope can be justified. As long as people are weaving the strands of peace, justice, sustainability and reverence for life, then hope will continue beyond any particular war or any particularly disparaging political event. In the poem by the title of its most powerful line, the Dalai Lama tells us what is most vital to the dream, “Never give up.” This book is a contribution to that goal and a gift that can provide glimmers of hope, even for realists.

References

Arendt, H, (2004) The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Schoken Books

Cavanagh, J and Mander J Eds. (2004) Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World is Possible. San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler

Frank. T. (2004) What’s the Matter with Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. New York: Metropolitan Press.

Lakoff, G, (1996) What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don't. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press.

Lifton, R.J (with Greg Mitchell) Hiroshima in America: Fifty Years of Denial, (Putnam and Avon Books, 1995)  

McChesney, R.W. (1997). Corporate media and the threat to democracy. New York: Seven Stories Press.

Milburn, M.A. and Conrad, S.D. (1996) The Politics of Denial. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press 

Pilisuk, M. (2001) Humanistic psychology and peace. in K. Schneider, J.Bugental, & F. Pierson (Eds.) Handbook of Humanistic Psychology Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 115-126.

Pilisuk, M. (1998) The hidden structure of contemporary violence. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. 4(3), 197-216.

Winter, D., Pilisuk, M., Houck, S. and Lee. M. (2001) Maintaining militarism: Money, masculinity, and the search for the mystical. . In Christie, D., Wagner, R., and Winter, D. (eds.) Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century Englewood, NJ: Prentice Hall. 139-148.

Wessells, M., Schwebel, M., Anderson A. (2001) "Psychologists Making a Difference in the Public Arena: Building Cultures of Peace" in Christie, D., Wagner, R. and Winter, D.D. (Eds.) Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century (350-362) Englewood, NJ: Prentice Hall.  

Marc Pilisuk is a Professor at the Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center in San Francisco and Professor Emeritus at the University of California. He is a past president of the Society for the Study of Peace Conflict and Violence and a member of the Steering Committee of the Psychologists for Social Responsibility. His recent publications deal with globalization, terrorism, citizen participation and the structure of violence.