The greatest danger facing humanity today is the threat of
weapons of mass destruction
and the slaughter of wars, and the
greatest waste of human resources
is what is spent building these
weapons, the destruction that is caused,
and the uselessness of
maintaining massive armed forces.
The wisest and best policy that
humanity can adopt is to reduce and eliminate
the weapons of war
and, instead of paying people to kill and destroy,
hire them and
others to help humanity.
Thus to bring about these optimal goals
I have proposed a Global
Disarmament Treaty
that provides a plan by which every nation
on Earth may disarm at the same time
so that these forces will
not threaten people anymore.
The next chapter will explain how
we can develop a democratic government
to resolve all international
conflicts by peaceful and judicial means.
For the Global Disarmament
Treaty to work most effectively we need to persuade the
government
of every nation to agree to the treaty.
This chapter explains
how such a treaty could work so that people can see its advantages.
The last chapter will discuss various nonviolent strategies
that
people can use to bring about these goals.
I believe that this
struggle between those who believe in using violence
and those
who do not use violence will be the greatest challenge
and transformative
crisis in human history.
How long and difficult this struggle
takes will determine how much more human suffering
has to go on
before we learn to be wise and humane toward each other.
The people
who understand that nonviolent methods of conflict resolution
are better
than the traditional violent ways that have been practiced
for five thousand years
need to show by our actions, discipline,
personal sacrifices, and communication skills
that this will work.
The main part of the transformation is educational in making people
aware that
nonviolent methods are not only ethically and morally
superior to the use of physical force
but that they are much more
practical and effective
as well as having the least amount of
side effects and negative consequences.
As Mahatma Gandhi
taught, having the courage to fight for what is right
is better
than being a coward; and we need to learn to fight in nonviolent
ways.
The essential philosophical principle of acting for the best
of everyone purifies action
so that both the ends and the means
are good.
Eventually people will realize that trying to use a
violent means to bring about peace
is not only hypocritical but
also counterproductive.
We are free beings, and no one can take
that freedom away from us,
although they may kill our bodies.
Neither can we make anyone else free by force of arms.
Only cowards
and those who are afraid will give in to physical threats.
Once
people realize that we can stand our ground without using weapons
and stand up not only for our rights but also for the rights of
all,
then those who try to gain power by using military force
will find that people will turn against
them in nonviolent ways
by not cooperating with their unlawful and immoral demands.
When
enough people have the courage to practice these principles, humanity
will rise up
and get rid of all weapons of mass destruction first
as the most useless and immoral things ever invented.
When people
refuse to obey armed forces, then the weapons will become obsolete.
We can recycle the materials and redirect all those human efforts
into constructive uses.
This world peace movement is global in scope and will occur
in every country.
Already Costa
Rica has shown the way by eliminating its army several decades
ago.
Germany and Japan eventually prospered because, having lost
a terrible war,
they had to reduce their armed forces for a time.
Many nations, both small and large, will be showing the way by
disarming their weapons
and military forces unilaterally before
the treaty even goes into effect.
The most powerful nation, the
United States of America, can also lead the way
by taking many
unilateral steps in reducing its massive forces and arsenals
without
even traditional security risks.
The USA is approaching national
bankruptcy because of its long period of militarism
and will benefit
greatly by reducing military expenditures.
Once this trend picks
up momentum in the right direction of disarmament,
the acceleration
toward peace will very likely be almost magical and euphoric.
Unfortunately the world is currently in a violent phase
because
of various pressures for resources.
These crises are going to
cause humanity to awaken to better ways
or else the misery will
increase.
The latest threat of terrorism, which uses nontraditional
weapons,
strategies and non-uniformed insurgencies, is forcing
people to come up with
new methods for countering these threats.
No nation nor even any combination of nations can challenge the
sole remaining
superpower militarily without bringing upon themselves
massive destruction and genocide,
yet terrorist insurgencies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and
other places are showing that
even the United States cannot win
such wars as long as people continue to fight.
That is because
war is never a solution and always a problem with harmful results.
No one ever really wins a war.
Even the winning side loses troops
and valuable resources, just not as much as the losers.
People
are going to learn that the only way to win or resolve these conflicts
is to avoid
violence and solve the problems so that everyone wins.
That does not mean rewarding those who threaten violence.
On the
contrary, those who try to gain by using violence need to be met
with justice first
and then mercy after they renounce the violence;
but to meet their violence with violence
just multiplies the wrong
and the bad consequences.
A world-wide peace movement will eventually persuade a majority
of people
that a global disarmament treaty makes sense and is
a practical solution to mankind’s greatest problem.
Actually I
believe that most people already understand that wars are wrong,
but we need to mobilize democratic power to make this understanding
politically effective.
Special nonviolent methods may be needed
to remove violent people
from positions of power, as the definite
trend in the world
is toward democratic methods of choosing political
leaders.
So these changes can and will take place nonviolently
once people assert their political strength.
Then extended educational
campaigns can spread around the globe
to convince the rest of
the nations to go along.
Economic boycotts can be used against
businesses and governments
that refuse to give up their weapons.
Political reforms may be needed in many countries so that the
will of the people can govern,
and at some point in this process
enough nations in the world will decide that
we also need democracy
on a global scale to help with the process of disarmament
and
to make sure that peace is maintained using democratic means
and
judicial processes for resolving all international conflicts.
The Global Disarmament
Treaty is designed to be implemented in stages
so that people
can be confident that security will be maintained during the process.
The first stage focuses primarily on weapons of mass destruction,
but it also includes the important step of making sure that every
nation
has withdrawn all its military forces from other nations.
The United States is the main power with military bases in other
countries
and can lead the way by converting these bases to hospitals
and schools
while returning them to those countries.
Thus the
first stage is the most important in eliminating all weapons of
mass destruction
(nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons) in
one year because they are the most dangerous.
As long as nuclear
power plants remain, all nuclear materials
will be monitored to
make sure no weapon is made.
The first stage will also implement
the principle that no nation has the right to use
any military
force outside of its national boundaries.
The first stage and
every stage will be carefully implemented with neutral monitoring
and inspection teams to make sure that no one is cheating.
Each
government that signs the treaty will be obligated to monitor
and inspect
their own weapons to make sure that they are fulfilling
the treaty;
thus they can do most of this work.
The international
inspection teams then can be used where noncompliance is suspected,
and surprise inspections can make sure that everyone is fulfilling
their obligations.
Once each stage is completed, any government,
group, or individual that violates the treaty
will be brought
to account by the world community
through nonviolent means and
a judicial process.
This may require some courageous peacekeepers
and law enforcement officers to arrest the violators.
In the second stage the next most dangerous class of weapons
will be eliminated;
these are the missiles and rocket-powered
weapons that can operate from a distance.
These weapons will be
removed from airplanes and naval ships as well as on land.
In the third stage all air forces and military planes will
be destroyed
or converted into civilian use.
In the treaty I have
proposed each stage will take one year to implement.
The fourth stage of the Global
Disarmament Treaty will remove all the navies
from the oceans
and bodies of water so that no ships are used for military purposes.
By the completion of this stage the only remaining military forces
will be within each nation.
The fifth stage will probably take much negotiation to work
out the dividing lines
between armies that will be disarmed of
all major weapons and the need of each nation
to maintain within
its borders local law enforcement officers to prevent and control
crime
or possible revolts still trying to use violence to gain
power.
Yet I believe the disarmament trend when successful is
likely to continue
such that people will realize that even law
enforcement officers rarely need weapons.
Many societies will
also probably decide to ban dangerous guns
so that everyone will
be safer.
When few guns remain in a society, the police will only
need such weapons
on rare occasions so that most of the time they
can remain safely locked up.
Although some people may continue
to hunt in a few places,
as the human population increases, safer
and more humane methods may be used
to control the remaining dangerous
animals.
The fifth stage is the culminating phase of the Global
Disarmament Treaty so that
after five years wars will be very
unlikely or small and easily resolved
by treating the violators
as criminals.
The human animal, which once had been the most deadly
and dangerous species on Earth,
will have become the protector
of all life as we learn to share this planet
with each other and
all other forms of life.
Global Emergency
Alleviating Poverty
Disarming Weapons of War
Creating Global Democracy
Reforming the US Constitution
Restoring Justice
Sustainable Economics
Freeing Communication
Spiritual Awakening
Nonviolent Strategies
Appendix:
Global Disarmament Treaty (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United Nations Democracy (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United States Revised (first draft by Beck)