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Alumni & Friends 950 Main Street • Worcester, MA 01610 Tel: 508 793 7166 • alumni@clarku.edu |
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Just open any newspaper on any given day and you may worry that the world has become a pretty dismal place. Domestic violence, child abuse, violence in our schools and neighborhoods, road rage, war, terrorism, genocide, poverty, homelessness, discrimination, corporate greed, sweat shops, and bullying in the workplace are among the "hot" topics that fill the news pages these days. It seems more and more, conflict-even the most trivial-is quick to be settled with a flex of muscle. Some days, it's enough to make you want to hop back into bed and pull the covers up over your head. "I'm afraid we're going to see an increasing amount of violence if we don't act," says psychology professor and director of Clark's peace studies concentration Joseph de Rivera. "We need a good strategy for getting us out of this mess that we're in, and it involves peace studies." Although the concept of "peace" is often put on a pedestal as a global ideal, de Rivera says peace transcends many levels-personal, societal, corporate, and national-and peace can definitely be achieved. "What's heartening is to see it happening all over. It's coming!" he says enthusiastically, reaching out and grasping the air in front of him. Peace. He can almost get his hands on it. De Rivera points to the volumes of books and journals in Clark's Peace Studies library that back up his claim. To get there, however, de Rivera says we need to change how we think about things; we need to change our culture. And we need to start now. Even then, he says, we won't see the results of these efforts for about 20 years. But he assures it will be worth it. "We need to realize that 'power politics' has some limitations-we need to supplement power with caring." Take it personally De Rivera suggests starting on the personal level by simply being kinder to one another. We can start by working toward peace in our own relationships-with our spouses, children, parents and siblings, friends, roommates and co-workers. He says corporate America can also play a huge role in advancing peace. "People in the workforce can be mean," explains de Rivera, pointing to the aggressive and competitive nature of today's workplace. "Bullying" may start in the school setting, he notes, but these schoolyard tormenters grow up and get jobs, and then there is bullying in the workplace. "It's really important to learn how to stop bullying," says de Rivera, adding that there has been a lot of recent research geared toward solving this growing problem. To be successful, he says the issue needs to be addressed on all levels. First the principal of a school or the CEO of a company needs to set a policy. Then, the teachers in the school, or the bosses in a workplace, need to be educated about the extent of bullying in their organization. According to de Rivera, at least 10 percent of people have been bullied and another 10 percent are the bullies. However, 80 percent are bystanders who have the capacity to help but don't know what to do. A critical step, he says, would be to establish guidelines, so bystanders know how to successfully and peacefully intervene. One of the best ways to curb bullying, says de Rivera, is to have a policy in place that clearly and emphatically states "this school, corporation, organization, etc. does not tolerate bullying" and back up that policy. "It's so worthwhile-it doesn't help productivity if you've got bullying going on." 'Keeping it fair' De Rivera also points to corporate greed as a factor playing a role in deterring peace. He says about 10 years ago the income gap between the highest-paid person in a company and the lowest-paid person was about 70 to 1-so the CEO of the company made about 70 times more than the person sweeping the floor. Now it's about 240 to 1-and the gap is growing, the middle class is shrinking and democracy is threatened. As people become increasingly unhappy (and some desperate), violence and murder rates also increase. "So we've got to reverse that," he warns. "I think for one thing we have to make sure that we honor the people who do the right things," advises de Rivera, comparing the Malden Mills fire tragedy to the Enron scandal. "Aaron Feuerstein, owner of Malden Mills, didn't give up and take the money and run. He rebuilt, so people could keep their jobs. What a great guy. We should all know his name." De Rivera advocates for "keeping it fair," and to do that, you need some referees. He compares it to Clark's basketball tournament that is known throughout the state as a fairly run event. "People know that the whistle is going to blow when they commit a foul. As a result it's a wonderful tournament," he says. "You have competition to the highest-people really playing to win. But it's fair competition. You have referees who are minding the game. Of course, business is much more complicated, but it can be done." Nonviolent alternatives On the national and global level, de Rivera has some diplomatic suggestions for advancing peace, noting successes in the Philippines, Yugoslavia and Argentina with overthrowing their dictators nonviolently. "I'm convinced that if we put the money into negotiation that we put into armaments, we'd have a lot more peace," he says. De Rivera also points to how Basque, Spain, has done an exceptional job nonviolently handling their terrorist situation. "It's not that they don't go after the terrorists-they do. But they also eliminate the support for the terrorism by meeting people's needs. This is what we should be doing." De Rivera is hopeful that as the American people begin to understand the alternatives to missile defense-how you really can use negotiations to resolve conflict, and use nonviolent means to overthrow dictatorships and achieve more justice-they will begin to embrace and support these ideas and methods. Although operating on a shoestring budget, de Rivera says many people don't realize that the United States funds an institute devoted to peace. With more significant support, de Rivera sees the U.S. Institute of Peace as a seed of hope for preventing violence and achieving the peaceful resolution of conflict. He hopes one day this institute will grow into a viable security alternative, playing a vital role in advancing peace at home and abroad. "There are people in positions of political power now, who are real peacemakers," says de Rivera. "However, these politicians are a minority. We need to support them, get them re-elected and get others elected who understand what's really going on and who can really help us."
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