Making War Unthinkable
Suzanne Taylor
November 17, 2001

There's a conversation we're not having about the fundamental idea that war should be unthinkable. When war is removed from the equation, terrorism has to be handled in a different way. It wouldn't even enter the realm of possibility to go to war. It would not be an option. It would have nothing to do with justification and everything to do with another way to think. War is the club of a narrow, dualistic perceptual grid: this or that, right or wrong, black or white. This is a lower level of perception than thinking in wholes. One humanity that we all are needs to be our frame of reference. Within that, criminals are deviants, and there are not enemy countries. We are one people, not warring nations. Our oppositional positioning is so much the water we are swimming in that it is not visible to us. It is left over from an old frame of perception. It is time to see outside this deadly box. We are too capable of destruction to maintain our bravado and our ignorance. It is one world, and people who offend do it to everyone. We unite to purge the world of deviants, to catch criminals. It is a world at permanent peace that does this.

Call me naive, but why the hell don't we have the United Countries, in the model of the United States? Countries would be like our States. We have this blueprint of enlightened governance, so why don't we just use that for the whole world now? This is a crucible we are in, where technology's destructive power mandates that either our world recognize itself as one thing, or its warring factions will destroy it. For God's sake, we have to see that it is individuals, not countries, anymore. It is a turning point for us. We must move our ideology to meet an evolving reality.

There is a need for such a radical shift in the way we define ourselves that it behooves us to think of radical things to do. What will wrench us our of our entrenchment? This is the thinking I invite and suggest everyone engage in. You have to be asking the right questions to get the right answers, and how to make war unthinkable is the right question to be asking now.

[Comment on this opinion using our feedback form or email Suzanne.]

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Jim Dreaver, author of Way of Harmony, writes: I have been repeatedly asked to contribute my perspective on the war against terrorism, the conflict in Afghanistan, and the ever more urgent need for peace in our world. Exactly what does this particular writer, a man long at peace with himself, think when he looks out and sees so much conflict and suffering in people and in the world? So, I wrote this piece, If You Want World Peace, in response.

Suzanne replies: Not as simple as that by my lights. The protests about the war mostly aren't pacifist, but in recognition that we aren't effectively destroying our enemy the way we are proceeding. So it's not collateral damage as fallout from our success – even "winning the war in Afghanistan" is a function of a false premise that Afghanistan is our enemy. This would fly: "the sooner the bully is confronted and dealt with, the sooner the threat is removed." Even "by whatever means works best" is OK, but we aren't using what works best. The smarts that I hear are that the UN should be handling this. And the World Court. We should be using lawful means. And it shouldn't be a war, but a police action. The deepest truth indeed is that "until a majority of humanity wakes up to their true nature, to who and what they are beneath all their beliefs, ideas, and stories about who they are, the cycle of human travail and suffering will continue." That true nature is where we are one, and it is the perception of our oneness that will make us kind and caring. But maybe enlightened self interest will come first, where we see that some of the people, who are rich, keeping masses who are poor subjugated, will destabilize the world and make their riches worth naught. Or maybe a massive awakening comes first – I see crop circles as a way that that actually could come to pass, jarring us out of the horizontal, where conflict lives, and putting us into the eternal, where oneness prevails. Things are so multi-dimensional in all this. One of my conversations is with Mario Martinez, whom I contacted when I quoted him on my site: "To deny anger and suppress your feelings of aggression toward acts of infamy, weaken natural protection against illnesses and germs...To deny fear during acts of infamy is as destructive as suppressing anger." He's a heavy hitter – on Caroline Myss's Expert's Forum. He's talking about coming here to meet with people I would put together. You might find his stuff interesting. Are you up for an LA trip after the holidays? I keep thinking about that wisdom council... [Read a more lengthy exchange between Jim Dreaver and Suzanne in our Conversations About Being Awake series.]

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Nori Muster, author of Betrayal of the Spirit, writes: I put a link to your site on the 911 page of my Website, surrealist.org. How about these last few years? It seems that ever since our wonderful 1999 New Years party at your house, so many tumultuous things have happened. For example, what about that election in 2000? Who would have ever imagined such a thing? I think this is a monumental time in American history, which could possibly result in needed changes. My main focus is the transition to alternative energy. Oil and other polluting energy sources have been at the heart of problems in the middle east and the politics in this country for a long time. The Gulf War and now the War on Terrorism are oil-based wars. Also, I have a problem with the way politicians and corporations treat the environment in general. But lately I like to think in terms of positive alternatives, instead of getting angry about things I see. It's a matter of changing to positive thinking because whatever we focus on tends to increase. I spent enough years being angry, so i'm focusing on what I want to happen instead. Last week I drove from Phoenix to L.A., and seeing all the windmills in the desert outside of Palm Springs, I felt hope. Let's do a major push for alternative energy. I think there are more people ready to hear about it now.

Suzanne replies: I'm honored to be listed in such good company. Yes, it's the turmoil of these days that has surfaced so many bright lights in this cyberspace underground that has me looking beyond the limits of my LA living room for that small group of thoughtful citizens that can change the world. In my conversations, there's a whistle blower, Wade Frazier, who has some blood-curdling documentation of resistance to alternative energy. Even as we try to focus on the light, there's the dark side which seems to be very active in trying to resist it. Here's Wade's url re Dennis Lee and free energy: http://home1.gte.net/res0k62m/advent.htm#hitting.

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