Читать книгу Soldiers of Peace - Paul Chappell - Страница 18

Peace literacy is the next step in the development of our global civilization, because peace literacy is necessary in an interconnected world where the fate of every nation is tied to the fate of our planet. Because of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, war, and environmental destruction, being preliterate in peace puts humanity and our planet at great risk. During an era when humanity has the technological capacity to destroy itself, peace literacy means survival literacy.

As a child in school I spent many years learning to read and write, but I did not learn peace literacy skills. If humanity is going to survive during our fragile future, we must create a world where a high school with a zero percent peace literacy rate would get national and international media attention, just as a high school today where none of the teachers or students knew how to read would get national and international media attention. Peace literacy educates us on solving the root causes of our problems rather than merely dealing with symptoms, which is another reason why the survival and well-being of our country and planet depend on peace literacy.

Where peace literacy is concerned, every bit helps us improve our personal lives, the lives of those around us, and our planet as a whole. What is better, a society where 3 percent of people are peace literate, or a society where 10 percent of people are peace literate? What is better, 10 percent or 30 percent? It is estimated that around 83 percent of people in the world today are literate in reading.¹⁸ Imagine how different our world would be if 83 percent of people were peace literate, or if over 50 percent of people were peace literate. Today I would contend that less than 1 percent of the global human population is literate in all seven forms of peace literacy. We must work together to change that. Human survival, along with the survival of most life on our planet, depends on peace literacy.