When we protest, we’re holding our institutions accountable because we experience stress and anxiety. If things were okay, we wouldn’t protest. If there were enough jobs, affordable healthcare and education, and a transparent and accountable government, there would be peace. Wars do not define the term “peace” exclusively. As far as consequences for humankind, this innocent mistake may have been one of history’s biggest misconceptions.
It’s the concept of “fear” that creates the wish for peace – not “wars.” The term “war” is subordinated to fear. This is more than just a linguistic detail. The protests against the wars of the ’60s and ’70s were of the same nature of the Occupy Wall Street protests of today. Both movements can be defined as “peace movements."
Following this simple logic, all protests or forms of social movements and activism are inspired by peace and are unleashed by anxiety, stress, and fear. Their expression is communicated by social groups as demanding accountability. Holding the proper institutions accountable is therefore the exercise of peace. Whether you are an active, concerned citizen; an environmentalist; a civil rights activist or a student, fighting for affordable education or a member of non-profit organizations that address these issues on your behalf, you are directly holding your institutions accountable.
All of these factors have major implications for social change because they allow us to revisit the power of the biggest social ideal – “world peace” – and fix the problem with its image. Although many wear and like the iconic peace symbol today, it is best known as a symbol of the ‘70’s anti-Vietnam War-hippie-John Lennon-Imagine Peace-Make Love, Not Bombs message.
It’s often about image and branding and marketing tells us that when a brand has a problem or fails to deliver results, then you have to reframe that image and repackage the message. For instance, you wouldn’t sell swim trunks on an advertisement featuring an Eskimo, just as you wouldn’t have Grandma be the spokesmodel for Manolo Blahnik shoes.
The current national uprisings are all motivated by “peace” at the Occupy movements as an ideal and as the driving force behind what the world wants and needs now – accountability. We are collectively the 99%, holding our corrupt institutions accountable. We are realizing peace. We are a global movement for peace and justice.
Repeace.com offers a simple solution that can be put into action by embracing the following idea: “When I hold my institutions accountable, it is then that I will truly realize peace.” Social movements are defined as an extraordinary number of human beings, voices – whether they’re in the streets or online.
To create a successful movement, you will need the Internet. Repeace.com has created three virtual demonstrations online and a worldwide support protest to create a global movement for accountability. As it comes down to the number of people involved (the voices that are present at a demonstration), all it's truly needed to get the attention of the recipient of the public grievances is a measure, and what's important is to make intelligent and effective demands. Since the corporate media (part of the establishment that we’re trying to reform) has failed to do their job by downplaying this revolution, Repeace proposes an alternative way to give a voice to the 99% and create a measure of the public sentiment, too big to ignore.
The measured demand of three pledges can achieve the impossible, which is to create a market demand for accountability. This can produce a reaction by private interests, and give to the 99% the power to exercise the most powerful of non violent weapon: the power of the wallet.
"When facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?" John Maynard Keynes
