Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Tag: graduates

  • An Open Letter to Graduates

    Dear Graduates,


    David KriegerHaving received a college degree, you are among the 6.7 percent of the world’s most educated elite.  If your education has been a good one, you are likely to have more questions than answers.  If your education has been mediocre, you are likely to think you have more answers than questions. 


    Did you have a chance in college to ponder these questions: What does it mean to be human?  Why are we here on Earth?  What are the greatest goals one can pursue in life?  What are the keys to a happy and fulfilled life?  If you didn’t, it’s not too late.


    You may have taken many introductory courses during your college years, but was there a course on Global Survival 101?  If not, you may not be prepared to make a difference in ending the great dangers to humanity in the 21st century. 


    Do you know how many nuclear weapons there are in the world?  Do you know which countries possess them?  Do you know what nuclear weapons do to cities?  Do you know whether these weapons are legal or illegal under international law?  Do you know whether they could end civilization and the human species?


    Do you know about the Nuremberg Principles, those that were derived from the tribunals at Nuremberg that held the Nazi leaders to account after World War II?  Do you know that these principles apply not just to Nazi leaders, but to all leaders who commit heinous crimes under international law?  Do you know what those crimes are? 


    Have you studied the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?  Do you know to whom these rights apply?  Do you know that these rights encompass economic and social rights as well as political and civil rights?


    Do you know that we all live on a single fragile planet and that we humans are the caretakers and stewards of this planet, not only for ourselves, but for future generations yet unborn?


    Do you realize that you are about to enter a world of vast inequities, as measured in money, health and happiness?  Do you understand that throughout the world there are more than a billion people who are malnourished and go to bed hungry every night?  Can you comprehend that in our world there are still 25,000 children who die daily of starvation and preventable diseases?


    Does your education lead you to believe that money will buy happiness?  It may buy fancy material things, and even status, but it is unlikely that it will buy happiness or fulfillment in life.  Caring for others and living with compassion, commitment and courage offers a far surer path to a fulfilled and happy life.


    Graduating from college is a commencement, not an ending.  It is a commencement into responsibility for one’s society and one’s world.  Exercising this responsibility is a daily task, a necessary and never-ending task.  It is a task that will require further education, outside the college classroom, but inside the multiversity of life. 


    The world needs to change.  We cannot continue to teeter on the precipice of nuclear and ecological disasters.  We cannot continue to exist divided into those who live in abundance and those who live in scarcity.  We cannot allow the greed of the few to overwhelm the need of the many.  We cannot continue to exploit the planet’s finite resources, in effect, stealing from the future.  We cannot continue to draw lines on the planet and separate ourselves into warring factions. 


    For the world to change, new peace leaders and change makers will be needed.  The first and most important questions you must ask yourself in your new role as graduates are these: Will I be one of the peace leaders and change makers, devoting myself to building a better world?  Or, will I choose to be detached and complacent in the face of the 21st century’s social, economic, political and military threats to humanity? 


    As the little prince, in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book by that name, stated so clearly, “It’s a matter of discipline….  When you’ve finished washing and dressing each morning, you must tend your planet.”  Look around.  Our beautiful planet needs a lot of tending.

  • Advice for the soon-to-be or newly graduated student on choosing a career with a conscience

    Dear Friend,

    So you are graduating soon and are starting to think about your role in the world, about survival, about independence and about what you were put here on this planet to accomplish…a hefty task to undertake with all that must be going through your mind at this time. Take it or leave it, I have some unsolicited advice for you on how to choose a career that satisfies what you are most yearning for and what will best serve humanity.

    I’ll start with myself.

    I have never been certain what exactly I wanted to be “when I grow up.” I used to listen to my friends and classmates who were so certain about their future careers, about people who went to college and graduated with a degree in something important that they could use in whatever career path they chose. After high school, I was not sure what I wanted to study, but I knew I was a good writer, a good thinker and a person with a good conscience. This pointed me in the direction of Linguistics. Today I do not formally use my degree; I am a teacher, a writer, an organizer and an activist for issues of peace and justice. My job has diffuse boundaries and unlimited resources for lesson plans, for articles, for nonviolence campaigns and for op-ed pieces.

    When I was three I was asked to leave the Montessori pre-school I was attending in Des Moines, IA (their loss). I couldn’t follow their rules. This is a fairly good starting point for investigating how I have arrived at my present job status. At three, I was an articulate child, an avid reader with a wide vocabulary and an astute observer of human behavior. I liked being around people and I liked new experiences and challenges. I became bored easily and sought adventures at every turn. Indiana Jones was my hero – a respectable professor by day, a swashbuckling treasure hunter by night.

    The work I am doing now is extraordinarily fulfilling and still is grounded in the fundamentals of what I knew to be true about myself as a child. I serve as the Peace Education Coordinator for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation where I write articles and a curriculum on teaching peace, I teach high school classes on nonviolence, I organize marches and events for national nonviolence groups, I travel to distant lands like Iraq with Voices in the Wilderness and I have the ability to garden, run, cook and travel to visit friends all over the country as well. Every day brings a new idea, a new predicament, a new perspective. For me, this is the perfect job at this point in my life, and I believe that there is a “recipe” for finding jobs with a conscience that those nearing graduation can draw from. Here are my ideas:

    • You must find out where you want to be physically on the planet. If you love a warm climate, don’t choose your “perfect” job in Alaska. Don’t underestimate the effect the weather, temperature and surrounding geography will have on your personal and professional life.
    • Find out what you like to do. Some jobs for people do not exist in the “help wanted” ads in the newspaper (try to find my job description in your local paper!) Do not be discouraged if you cannot find the perfect job for you just by searching the Sunday Employment section of your newspaper. Jobs with a conscience are hidden jewels, like pearls, that you must tease out of hiding. While daunting at times, the reward for finding a job you love and that meets your needs is greater than you can imagine.
    • Learn from your s/heroes. My first shero was Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor. She did what people thought could not be done. I felt a deep connection to that ideology and constantly pursued goals in my life that defied expectations. Make a list of the people you admire and list the reasons why. This investigation can be tremendously enlightening and may help articulate qualities of yourself which define your passions. Never assume that you can’t make a career out of doing what you love.
    • Watch the signs in your life. The world sends us signals, hints, and messages in funny forms that unless we are observant, we tend to miss. Do not dismiss the coincidences and the happenstances that bend your thinking in a new direction, that wake you up to a new idea.
    • No law says that you must stick with your first job for a certain amount of time. You can change your mind, move on, move out, move up and move forward when you feel the need to grow or feel the pangs of conscience creeping up! My first job out of college was working for the World Bank, which is interesting because now many of my friends in activism are working against this gigantic institution. I feel quite privileged to have an intimate understanding of the inner-workings of the “WB” as I fondly used to call it, and learning about the people on the inside, hearing their stories and realizing that for a seemingly untouchable powerhouse, the World Bank actually has some significant Achilles’ Heels. Hindsight is 20/20.
    • Brainstorming is an important creative endeavor when determining your future and vocation. Here is a brainstorm of mine: op-ed writer, volunteer, science teacher, math teacher, history teacher, french teacher, food drive organizer, talent show coordinator, jail filler, puppetista, hall director, resident advisor, office grunt, grantwriter, nonprofit founder, affinity group member, social worker, GED teacher, campaign organizer, fundraiser, graffiti artist, musician, vagabond, documentary filmmaker, VORP mediator…the list goes on and on…
    • The following list of people are some of my heroes and hold jobs that one day I might like to try on for size:

    Brendan Greene, union organizer for Pictsweet mushroom workers, United Farm Workers, www.ufw.org

    Margaret Oberon, Ventura County Catholic Chaplain, Detention Ministry

    Katya Komisaruk, lawyer for activists, http://www.lawcollective.org

    Michael Beer, Peace Brigades International and Nonviolence International

    Daniel Hunter, nonviolence trainer, Training for Change, www.trainingforchange.org

    Propagandhi, musical group

    Jeff Guntzel, Iraq delegation leader with Voices in the Wilderness, www.vitw.org
    *Leah C. Wells teaches high school classes on nonviolence and serves as Peace Education Coordinator for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. She traveled last July and August with Voices in the Wilderness to Iraq and condemns the economic sanctions as genocidal.

  • Graduates: Take Global Responsibility

    “I pledge allegiance to the Earth, and to its varied life forms; one world, indivisible, with liberty, justice and dignity for all.”

    We need more people to take the pledge, and live their lives as though the Earth and its myriad of creatures mattered.

    We all know at some level that the world–this beautiful, unique world we inhabit–is in a precarious state, and not enough is being done to save it. The environment is under attack. The quality of our air and water is deteriorating, the ozone layer is being depleted as are our forests, desertification is expanding, and global warming continues. Too many people are starving and too many are hungry; too many are homeless and without adequate medical care; too many children die of preventable diseases. While some people live in obscene abundance, others barely survive and many don’t survive. Population is on an exponential rise, leading to a doubling of global population in the next 50 years. Throughout the world human rights are routinely abused by governments that torture and murder their own citizens. Wars rage on, and nuclear weapons threaten to spread to nations that seek to flex their technological muscles as the existing nuclear weapons states have done for decades.

    What is to be done about all of this? The choices are these: ignore the problems, allow yourself to be paralyzed by fear or despair, or roll up your sleeves and take responsibility for changing the world. The first two choices are akin to giving up–giving up your humanity. The only hope for making a difference is to choose responsibility–global responsibility.

    Responsibility is an underrated concept. Without responsibility very little would get done. With responsibility, almost anything is possible.

    Global responsibility can become a way of life characterized by awareness, beliefs and commitment–the A-B-C of global change. The starting point is awareness of the serious problems which confront us. Awareness comes from education, in class and out. Beliefs reflect values, for example, the belief that change is possible, that you can make a difference, that all persons are entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Commitment is what impels you to action, the willingness to give of yourself, to sacrifice, to make a difference in the world.

    Each generation has a responsibility to pass the world on in tact to the next generation. We are stewards of the abundance and beauty of our unique planetary home. Our generation and the one before us haven’t done such a good job–we’ve lost control of too many powerful technologies and been too greedy and power-seeking. I believe that your generation can do better. In fact, your generation must do better, for yourselves and for posterity.

    If your commitment to global responsibility should falter because you think the task is too big or you don’t have enough time for it or for a thousand other reasons, remember that you are the link to the future. Without your active involvement, there may not be a future. If each of us does not personally accept global responsibility, we have no right to expect someone else to accept it. Is it fair to ask that others pull our weight for us?

    We all believe in human rights, but without human responsibility there cannot be human rights. They are two sides of a coin. In today’s interlinked and interdependent world, human rights demand global responsibility.

    John Donne, writing some four centuries ago, reminded us that “no man is an Iland, intire of itselfe; everyman is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine….” In today’s language we should say, “No human is an island….” We are all in this together, all five and a half billion of us. We are all one species, all relatives, all members of the human family–egardless of our race, color, gender or creed. We can join with John Donne in recognizing that “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde….”

    We share a common responsibility for safeguarding this unique planet where life flourishes, this small blue dot in a vast universe which is our home. The threats we face demand that we put aside selfishness, and step forward to accept responsibility for creating a peaceful and just world. We can do better than solving our problems by means of technological violence, and we can do more for each other. We can take seriously that “all men [and women] are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights….”

    We can live by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which recognizes that “the inherent dignity and… the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world….” We can accept personal responsibility for upholding these rights. We can speak out and act in behalf of our unique Earth and its many life forms that cannot give voice to the impending disasters that surround us. We can take responsibility– global responsibility — for creating a better world. Now is the time to begin.