According to Dr Keith Suter, a member of the elite Club of Rome (a group of planetary social engineers), there are three ways of looking at issues: events, patterns, & structures.
He believes that when we perceive an issue such as peace in terms of events, we focus our attention on the minute details of the issue. Why it is not possible - who did what to whom - when it happened and so on. If we employ his thinking however, another way of perceiving the minute details of the issue of peace is through sensory experience. What we think, what we feel, what we see, smell, hear, and touch. Every issue (or moment) perceived through "these" minute details then becomes a pattern.
Perceived this way, the pattern of life is simply that each issue is given to enable us to experience Self. Obviously this is nothing more or less than what we think, what we feel, what we see, smell, hear, and touch. So each issue enables us to experience our uniqueness as individuals (ie Self) and it also enables us to experience a bigger picture - the pattern. In the eyes of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching we will have attained the state of consciousness identified as the common goal of learning. We will have gained an understanding of 'the connectedness of things'. We will have realised that we are all inter-dependent, inter-related, and inter-connected. We are ONE. Life perceived through this pattern brings the understanding that no one individual or organisation can play the role of any other individual or organisation - or in the terms of God - all men are equal.
Every issue perceived through this pattern then enables us to perceive an underlying structure that supports it. I say "an" as there is limitless ways of perceiving a structure just as there are limitless ways of perceiving anything! One way to perceive the structure is through our values.
In Australia we live in a capitalistic society - an economic system in which the means of production, distribution, and exchange are privately owned and operated for private profit. A capitalist is described as someone who has accumulated wealth from business. So the ultimate goal of our society is the accumulation of money. We have been conditioned to think our need is money but this is not the truth.
As far as it goes for me I'm in a human body. I need food and water. I need shelter - both clothing and housing. I need HealthCare. I need to be educated so I can make conscious decisions as to what's best for me and those I inhabit this planet with - my family. I need to be able to use my skills and talents - and I need, whatever I need, to do so! And I need a safe and secure environment, which is conducive to enabling these needs to be met. Furthermore, my needs change moment to moment dependent on what I choose to do next. There it is in a nutshell - my needs. These needs are shared by all Beings. They are your real needs - not money! For peace to be a reality all Beings needs must be met.
Is there hope for such radical a shift in our values? I believe so. I believe we are presently in a process of change that Russian Noble laureate Priogine would explain as a change in consciousness. The altering from one state to another much like water in a kettle turning to steam. Human consciousness is undergoing a change in it's values. When a company like SmithKline agree to donate enough of its anti-parasitic drug albendazole to eradicate the disease elephantiasis we are making progress. In monetary terms this is the equivalent of some $500 million over twenty years.
SmithKline are shifting their values - they are developing a social ethic - they are viewing the entire planet as the shareholders to which they are responsible.
The issue of SmithKline's actions viewed at the structural level is cause for great optimism. A culture of peace is being born and you are witnessing it. But we have a bit more work ahead of us to enable us all to experience it. We need to define the structure.
The structure necessary for a culture of peace is about acknowledging what our needs really comprise and developing an environment which supports this truth. An environment which also reflects that :-
Only then will UNESCO Director-General Frederico Mayors' much talked about 'Culture of Peace' become a reality.