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THE ABLE WORLD NEWS

NEWS RELEASE

Peace Has Cousins: plan with them.

By Adebisi T. Aromolaran, Ph.D.

Founder & Executive Director, AWFI

Individuals, organizations, communities, and nations zealously seek peace, but do they also seek its cousins? Plans that fail to plan with peace and its cousins are not likely to materialize. Of course, strategic rather than tactical planning is the view advanced in this approach to peace. If society sows the seeds of peace today, it would reap a rich harvest of peace tomorrow.

Sages say that in the realm of nature, nothing stands alone. The land and the oceans are related; the fire and the air are somewhat related. The plants and the animals (including humans) are related. It appears that nothing stands alone. In light of that, peace does not exist in a vacuum. As Able World Foundation, Inc. (AWFI) sees it, Peace has cousins; its closest positive, pleasant cousins being progress and prosperity. With progress and prosperity, peace is able to tame all things that it touches. Since economic theory has it that people in cooperation tend to be more productive than those in isolation, assuming each of them works diligently, does it not follow then that peace, working in cooperation with its closest cousins would be more productive than peace working in isolation? Wouldn't that be great for the human communities? Wouldn't that be wonderful for the peoples of the world? Wouldn't that be wonderful for you and me?

Logically speaking, when one thinks about peace, one should also think about progress and prosperity. The three ideas seem elementally inseparable from one another. Maybe, that was what prompted Milton when he wrote:

You'll notice it takes a large army to wage a war (as far as we currently know), it takes peace and its cousins to record a victory, depending on the meaning we attach to 'peace'. Let us here assume that peace means personal harmony on the one hand, and cosmic tranquility on the other. We do not talk about peace in terms of one person or a group that is planning to control the other person or group.

Now that the world has a new symbol, it is time to share that symbol with all segments of the population. First, it is necessary to share this symbol with adults since they play a large role in the socialization of the young. Society has traditionally assigned to parents, guardians and teachers the task of jointly raising children and young people within the family and the public institutions of socialization.

Next, we have to consider social institutions such as churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship as vital environments that can be used in sharing peace and its cousins. Every adult who is privileged to guide a child or young person should seek out Able World's images for instructional purposes.

Relying on the principle of social learning and conditioning, Able World believes that children and young persons can learn anything that is taught effectively to them. Note the Able World emphasis on the phrase 'taught effectively'. Able World is going to proceed with developing visual images that would assist children and youth to focus on the three concepts of peace, progress and prosperity. One of such visual images is Able World's "The Learning Post", a poster (11 in x17 in. or 25in by 35in.) that can make a difference in the kid's room or the classroom.

Able World seizes the opportunity to remind the public about the part that education plays in shaping society. Let us borrow some ideas from Emile Durkheim, the eminent sociologist of education, as he observed:

From the quote above, it becomes evident that children and young persons form our targeted population. If society buys our logic, and parents and teachers are ready to perform their role effectively, then we can release the peace package to children, teens and young adults in all the communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. We encourage children and youth to subscribe to The Able World Youth Club in their neighborhood. It's an After School Program. Ultimately, we plan to expand the program worldwide. Creatively administered, the 3P(Infinity) Program can effectively wipe out poverty from human environments.

You may also be willing to recommend the club to the principal of your neighborhood school – elementary, middle or high school. Do you realize that such efforts on your part are worthy contributions to the spread of peace, progress and prosperity? The world eagerly awaits your contribution in this regard.

The rationale for The Able World Youth Club is that children and youth that are committed to the seven principles of the club as a way of life early in life are less likely to be committed to a criminal, violent or destructive lifestyle. Able World believes that two different things such as violence and peace cannot occupy the same mind at the same time. The pursuit of peace, progress and prosperity is antithetical to the pursuit of violence and poverty!

By inference, one comes to the conclusion that one can find peace in the heart or mind of human beings, given certain environmental conditions. People who harbor rage or resentment against another group do so from the pool of rage or hate in their collective minds or 'consciences'. It requires some degree of courage for a single person to propagate peace among a group of people who felt excluded from the national cake. Look at the cost to the whole world of the sacrifices that Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela made in an attempt to right societal wrongs. Peace and her cousins are not far from human minds, thoughts and action.

Able World encourages the world to welcome children and youth to the world stage, and assist them to play their role effectively as they seek to wet their feet in peace, progress and prosperity programs. Maybe, the new peace package of peace, progress and prosperity can make a difference in the continental United States and Canada, south America, the Caribbean Islands, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Pakistan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The Able World Youth Club ^TM originates from California, and hopes to touch children and youth worldwide.

If the passage you've just read opens your eyes to the new dimension of peace that was not available to you before, here is an opportunity for you to use the new information. You can decide what you want to do with this new information, particularly within your neighborhood. Able World must rely on readers like you to spread the word around to schools, colleges and universities, churches, synagogues, and mosques, that a new era is opening out to children and young persons, a new era of peace, progress and prosperity. The reader can tell ten other friends, family members or colleagues about this published material, and encourage them to tell ten other people. In that way, the news about peace, progress and prosperity would grow exponentially. This is Able World's way of strategically planning for peace, progress and prosperity.

Finally, we encourage you to seek peace, progress and prosperity, believing that all other things are likely to be added to those three joint environments. Then, wherever you look for genuine peace, the cousins of peace would appear. The Golden Rule is: teach peace, progress and prosperity jointly to children and youth now; sow the seeds of peace, progress and prosperity now, and you can expect a rich harvest of goodness and goodwill in return. Most of the time, humans reap what they sow.

For further information about this or related matters, please visit our website at: ableworld.org

Adebisi T. Aromolaran, Ph.D.

Founder & Executive Director

Able World Foundation, Inc.

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