FAQ
WHAT IS REPEACE ?
Repeace is a worldwide virtual peace movement focused on a peaceful, positive approach against institutionalized corruption. Repeace will create a virtual wall where the 99% can be part of 4 virtual protests simultaneously, without need to go in the streets and risk arrests or confrontation with law enforcement. One of this protest will be measuring all humans voices, from all nations, supporting the movement. Repeace uses 3 pledges/agreements to allow all nations to identify behind an alternative view of what peace means and how it can be promoted.
Which nations can Repeace appeal to?
Behind a more universal definition of peace, namely peace is the absence of fear, Repeace expands the notion of peace, which does not exclude the fact that wars also define peace. "Peace is the absence of fear" explains why so many of us are now wishing for peace, for many different reasons. Occupy protests are filled with peace symbolism, and people expressing a wide variety of grievances .
What peace is Repeace talking about?
The best way to describe which peace does Repeace talk about is in a speech by JFK, of 1963:
"I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children-not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women, not merely peace in our time but peace for all time." - JFK, 1963
Repeace believes that there is a peace of the individual, a personal serenity, a lack of personal conflicts, a peace inside our own communities, families and social groups. However, the peace that matters for us now, as a society and as a human race, is the peace inside a society. We live now at times where nothing makes sense, and our governments are corrupted and not doing our best interests, but the interests of a handful of omnipotent corporations. For that reasons we have many fears, worries, stress. Our social structure is being destroyed and vital social services and support systems, civil rights and human rights are under attack. The concept os war itself has shifted, and the victims of the attack is us, humans, and the weapons used are deception, misinformation, fear mongering, lies, and debt.
We've been enslaved by financial institutions that operate in secrecy, controlling entire economies and governments, while they print money our of thin air. The world wants serious investigations into the financial system, but our institutions are not listening.
HOW IS REPEACE A GLOBAL MOVEMENT ?
The global element is created by the fact that all humans can identify with the analogy: "I'm holding accountable, therefore I realize peace". Peoples' pledging worldwide support unites all humans in this movement for more institutional accountability, justice and peace.
What are the 3 Repeace pledges and what's their goal?
The pledges for USA, Spain, and most of Western style democracies are:
1. I will support businesses that focus on sustainable, local products and services, not on buying influence.
2. I will support politicians who are accountable to me, not to corporations.
3. I will support countries that promote and defend freedom of expression.
The most important of these pledges are the first two. They are directed at the two main pillars of corruption, corporations and law makers. By measuring the voices of the people taking the pledges, repeace produces a real demand for accountability, a market demand, and wants to turn accountability into profitable currency. No matter how little money a person has, if that money can be directed towards businesses that will now take concrete steps to back off of political influence, we can achieve the impossible and sever the ties between private interests and government, for the sake of a more just and transparent democratic process.
In other words, the Repeace counts are like a mirror that we can hold up to our corrupted institutions and confront them, peacefully, yet decisively, and get them to comply with our very specific demand.
We tell businesses: "Back off of my representatives and I'll buy your products, or else I'll buy from businesses who will."
We tell politicians: "Find alternative ways to find support and voters other than private cash, or else I'll support candidates who will".
But we can't affect the businesses that truly own our government!
True. Government is literally owned by financial institutions, Energy, defense contractors, pharma, chemical, food industry, and a few other big industries. Those are beyond our reach cause they get rich with government contracts. However, the large majority of businesses in a nation, are made of small-medium corporations, that can't afford to lobby and are also struggling to make it. It is exactly those businesses that we will attract with our pledges. We have to create a movement of small medium businesses that are committed to us, to the environment, to local economies, and create a competition among them, based on how accountable they will be to us.
Are there any indications that those businesses will "repeace"?
Yes. There are many indications that businesses are recognizing the advantage of supporting local economies, producing sustainably and backing off of politics. Here is one article that mentions how 40 executives from companies including Playboy Enterprises, ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's, the Seagram's liquor company, toymaker Hasbro, Delta Airlines and Men's Wearhouse wrote to Congress and the Senate the day after the infamous Citizen United Ruling, urging them to approve public financing for House and Senate campaigns. They said they were tired of getting fundraising calls from lawmakers.
Is Repeace an organization?
No. Peace is a virtual platform that gathers the most relevant and universal agreements of all humans, that are being brutally ignored by our institutions. There are enough organizations and political movements out there. Also organizations depend on constant flow of donations to survive and it often seems that there is more desire to compete than create coalitions. We've become used to organizations doing the work on our behalf. In a responsible society there is no such thing as paying someone and expecting what we demanded. We need to take more responsibility and hold accountable all institutions, including ourselves, the people. Repeace is a place where you can empower yourself with an idea and express something very basic, yet very powerful. Existing organizations can refer to the number of pledges and confront our institutions on our behalf, and create the future binding agreements that representatives and corporations will be taking to the public, in exchange of public support.
Why is Repeace a Trademark?
Technically repeace is a blog, a site with a special set of "polls" that are actually 4 protests (one international protest). The production and development of this project was met with indifference laughter and critic, much in the sense of visionary project. The relevance of the message and the simple facts behind the nature of peace and how it can be more effectively promoted have grown a grass roots movement approaching 10K members from all nations, on Facebook. Several endorsements are coming in now, which are validating this idea. The only way to monetize on this project is to protect the designs, the logos and the name Repeace. In our view it is a great responsibility to the public to demand donations. We preferred to create a design that would sell, and be independent from soliciting the public for money. We're sure you may appreciate that.
Who is behind Repeace, when was it born and who controls it?
Repeace started as an idea to re-brand peace to give it more power and developed into a discovery and a reading of global events. Repeace was born in 2008 in San Francisco, when a Swiss artist, Drey Tosi (Andrea Tosi), with background in Social Psychology, noticed that the collective was displaying and wearing more and more peace symbols, but not much protesting in the streets. It was as if the spirit wanted out, but found itself in a past era, with a hint of nostalgia and lack of impact. Repeace is the idea that people who wish to hold accountable their institutions, whether directly or through political movements or non profits, are Repeacers, they realize peace. In such context, all activists can identify with the idea and rally behind it. Repeace reads the collective spirit, which it not difficult, and provide a virtual wall to express only three basic grievances, actions, agreements, which are meant to stay as long as needed to promote reforms inside a nation. Repeace is an idea, and it's important that such idea is shaped by the collective, and that each person, can anonymously identify in it. Think of the power of the idea of "Exercising". Nobody owns the lifestyle of exercising. People identify in it. Its power is invisible. Products like NIKE, ADIDAS, PUMA, etc, may embody the lifestyle, but the idea lives in the realm of the collective.
Why not simply protest?
Life protests are instrumental to let society know that people have grievances to share. Occupy is inspiring and historic. However protests are mostly ignored by the corporate media, and the establishment simply wishes that they would stop. The important question is: "what is a protest and how can it have an impact when the media ignore it, dismiss it or frame it as radical, and the government dares to label dissent as a low level terrorist threat?
A protest is defined as a group of people expressing their grievances. What is needed in a protest to have an impact are 4 elements:
- What are the specific demands?
- How many people are demanding them?
- Which authorities are the numbers and the demands handed too?
- What are the authorities doing about it?
The demands we used to make at protests were mostly ignored. Let's face it, our institutions of government and corporations are like a couple of codependent addicts. You can't keep asking a cash addicted government to stop taking the bribes it gets from the corporations, and you can't expect a reaction from corporations depending on the profits derived from buying public policies.
It won't help us to keep asking them to sober up, to stop taking bribes or stop being greedy, cause they don't care. They can't stop. Addiction is a disease and part of the disease is the denial part. Polticians will see themselves as serving with honor even if they are spending 70% of their time at fundraisers, drinking champagne and eating lobster canapés.
However, those institutions are dependent on us, society, to exist. The key lies in gathering our voices and set new rules. We want clean institutions now. There are plenty of candidates who will run clean and businesses that will do what we want. We simply need to create a demand and start supporting them. You want to see how fast the addicted institutions will sober up? pledge, and share, and we will find out.
An important final note about the efficacy of protests is mentioned by nothing less than Edward Bernays, the father of Propaganda, whose work and knowledge has been beneficial for the elites and devastatting for human kind. Millions of people have greatly suffered or died from the consequences of the implementations of his manipulative strategies of mass manipulations. The whole toppling of the Guatemalan government by the USA was a carefully planned operation of propaganda, aimed at handing the control of the fruit businesses in the hands of US Corporate thieves. (Banana Republic)
Bernays observed:
"A desire for a specific reform, however widespread, cannot be translated into action until it is made articulate, and until it has exerted sufficient pressure upon the proper law-making bodies. Millions of housewives may feel that manufactured foods deleterious to health should be prohibited. But there is little chance that their individual desires will be translated into effective legal form unless their halfexpressed demand can be organized, made vocal, and concentrated upon the state legislature or upon the Federal Congress in some mode which will produce the results they desire."
How can I help Repeace?
Take the 3 US pledges (only US IP Addresses) + Wordwide support (global protest)
Share with as many people as you can. If you know community organizers or leaders of progressive groups, encourage them to share this site with their members.
Hand our flyers (Downloads)
Take a picture of yourself making the 3 fingers Repeace salute and send it to us.
Like all Facebook Repeace communities. If this movement is successful in the USA and Spain it can be given to all nations, creating incredible synergy. We can truly heal corruption from all nations. You will see.
Write about Repeace if you are an author.
If you're an artist, interpret the logo (download .eps file).
If you're a photographer take pictures inspired by the revolution, or anything you think is powerful and inspiring to share. All art will be displayed on FB or on the main site. The Billboard images above the counters are 1024x284px the best images or art, will be featured there with your name and link to your portfolio.
