What can we do to reduce or eliminate violence in the world?

Conversation Cafe is a worldwide network of people working to create a culture of dialogue through hosting Conversation Cafés.(see www.conversationcafe.org) Our sister organization Peacemaker Institute hosts weekly Conversation Cafes in Second Life and in this online forum we would like to continue the dialogue as well. We will post regular questions and topics. Please join the conversation!

Below is a question from the "ten top" questions for International Conversation Week 2008 which happened in March:

10. What can we do to reduce or eliminate violence in the world? (Ending violence everywhere)
What incites people to violence and how can those conditions change? When have you experienced a potentially violent situation transform into a more peaceful resolution and what can we learn from that? Where is violence happening in your community and what would you like to see in its stead? What will it take to not just end violence and war, but wage peace?

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Permalink Reply by Bodhana on May 3, 2008 at 11:14am
At a recent retreat I lead at the New Hampshire State Prison one of the discussions was how we as a sangha could influence the prison culture of violence and the conclusion the men came to was that through their non violent actions and the practice of metta they could have a positive impact on inmates and CO's.

Dh. Bodhana
Permalink Reply by Janna on April 23, 2008 at 11:30am
Some thoughts on reducing state sponsored violence.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/23/america/23prison.php
"U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nations" by Adam Liptak, April 23, 2008 (full text also posted on my PDN page)

Two things stand out in the article, 1. the prevalence and availability of guns in the U.S. contributing to prevalence of violent crime, and 2. the fact that the U.S. criminal justice system is highly politicized, subject to vagaries of elections, rather than primarily civil servants in stable positions as in countries with lower incarceration rates. Length of prison terms in the U.S. is another factor accounting for high percentage of incarcerated.

Arms reduction seems a major direction for violence reduction in the world, including violence committed by individuals as well as state sponsored violence (armed forces). http://controlarms.org/ (also supported by www.avaaz.org)

A measure to change the politicized structure of the American criminal justice system should be considered.

Participation in programs that promote personal transformation and reduce recidivism (e.g., dharma, NVC, etc.) can be linked to reduction in length of sentencing. Outcome assessment can have direct benefit here.
Permalink Reply by Phillip R. Trujillo on November 22, 2008 at 9:18pm
Hello to all, and I believe and am open minded to everyones thoughts regarding this. I believe that all of us need to realize that the world as a whole has to learn to and educate others to respect diversity and develop a mentality for inclusion. What I mean by this is that most of us, myself included over time, especially more so over the last twenty years for reasons unknown have developed an attitude whereas we have this feeling of entitlement and self worship, and have come to believe that our thoughts and beliefs about everything is the "right way", and we are not open minded enough to listen, respect and really conscientiously comtemplate the beliefs and ideas of others. We all have a human, internal sense that we are the best rather than realizing that we all could use a bit of self examination. Diversity is the best thing that any entity be it a family, team, clan, tribe, municipality, state, business, nation or world has. It is our most important and best asset, and if we are willing to include everyone else and respect their thoughts and ideas we can develop a dialogue which will result in compromise even though we have differences. We have to realize that every single issue which comes up for discussion will always be controversial because of our diversity, but if we are willing to come to the belief that everyone must be included within the dialogue no mater what their status is in the spectrum of things we must realize that whatever compromises are made the final result needs to be what is best for the majority even though it means sacrifice by most of us rather than what is best for the few which also usually results in sacrifice by the many. I try to practice this mentality everday, and I feel an internal self satisfaction that even when I initially become angry with something that I read or hear about I try to stop and rethink my initial reaction and try to understand and at the very least comtemplate why others believe or act in the way that they do.

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