Let's completely abolish armaments, once and for all, from the face of this earth.
A prophetic dream: that our dream may be realized.
Last night, I had a beautiful dream.
Children, old people, and all other beings on the planet were living happily. People had a sense of purpose and great joy in their hearts. Blissfully ignorant of the concept of war, people did not need to worry about war. There, people had hope in their hearts and a definite life purpose.
Our definite life purpose is for happiness to be realizable in our daily lives and to be able to have hope for the future.
However, what is the state of the world these days? Through war or other acts of violence, many people have lost sight of their purpose on this earth.
By the way, perhaps you think that this isn’t something we need to occupy ourselves with? If we truly desire "happy lives with definite purposes", let’s strive to guarantee that there will be no more wars on this earth.
We don’t want any wars on this earth.
We don’t want people to die in wars or in acts of violence.
For that reason, we will strive for world-wide disarmament.
Let us use the internet to appeal to people throughout the world to campaign for disarmament.
This means:
1. It is a pre-condition for all countries to pass an international law to abolish armaments throughout the world and to declare the abolition of nuclear weapons.
2. The introduction and implementation of an international law abolishing armaments.
3. The introduction and implementation an international tribunal for dispute conciliation.
4. The introduction and implementation of an international arms inspection body and the installation of international police force mechanism.
5. The maintenance of international law as a mechanism to ensure security for all people throughout the world.
In April 2009, President Barack Obama of the United States declared that all the nuclear weapons in the world should be dismantled and eliminated and, in the Summit of the United Nations Security Council which took place on September 24th, 2009, a resolution for "a world without nuclear weapons" was passed unanimously. This will surely be welcome as a declaration of the intent of the world leaders.
However, conventional arms still exist and are used throughout the world. Is it possible that a country with nuclear weapons dismantle those nuclear weapons? It is impossible for that to happen, because clearly a country with nuclear weapons’ aim is to keep them hidden, in order to be ready in the event of a sudden war. This is the natural spiritualism of human beings these days and shows the limitation of our mental/spiritual progression.
In order to bring about true global peace, we have to consider how to transcend this limitation. This will guarantee fairness between all countries. We can transcend this limitation by carrying out the abolition of armaments simultaneously all over the world.
Website:
http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~kansyou/gunbimaen.html
* Please send me your opinion.
* Please read this statement:
Human beings worked hard to drive forward scientific progress to the present day. This scientific progress has brought us many benefits. However, on the other hand, we have used the progress of science as a tool for eliminating human beings, and many lives have been claimed.
Should scientific progress be used as a tool to facilitate the happiness of human beings, or to cause their deaths? Our human spirituality will decide that. In other words, our human hearts determine everything.
Let's completely abolish armaments, once and for all, from the face of this earth.
All the causes that bring about war are in direct conflict with the interests produced by our hearts. We are governed by the forces of nature and are alive. Therefore, it is inevitable that differences arise due to natural environments, various interests and due to geographical and cultural differences. In order for human beings to live together peacefully, we have to admit this fact. We must obediently accept the law of nature, and we must learn how to deal with it as a common problem of mankind. To achieve this, human beings must develop a more advanced condition of the mind which will prevent conflicts and hostilities arising.
War is surely man's most foolish act. People are trying hard to live happy lives. However, many people's lives have already been claimed by war, hope has been destroyed and been taken away. Yet people have nurtured a desire for peace since time immemorial. But still we cannot get lasting peace in the world. Why is that? It is because human beings’ mentality is still lagging behind, although science has made rapid progress. The reason also lies in the self-contradictions of the sub-consciousness mind, which unconsciously lies in the inner part of our hearts as well.
I would like to think that these self-contradictions of the mind will soon be solved by human beings' wisdom. However, considering the sad state of the world today, we cannot wait for it to come much longer. Nuclear weapons are already present throughout the world. They will lead not only to the extinction of human beings, but also to the extinction of the earth, if we overlook trying to solve this problem. We definitely have to take steps to avoid this happening.
In order for human beings to ensure lasting peace in the world, we must completely eliminate the disparity of armaments and the conflicts in the interests of different nations immediately. The conventional methods to adjust these conflicts cannot accomplish this. No countries should be disadvantaged through this process, the aim should be to establish a fair process for all countries throughout the world. The best way for this to happen would be for all countries to disarm at the same time. This is the solution which would transcend all local and national interests and which would ensure no psychological contradictions.
* Although this is a long text, please read this to the end.
All people in the world want to live happy lives.
This wish originates from deep inside our hearts naturally. It should be one of our human rights and nobody should violate this right.
People’s desire to be happy has flourished in all religions and all civilizations/cultures. In most countries we should have been able to hope for a better life in the future, compared to how the world is today. However, regrettably, human beings' mental progress has not kept pace or caught up with progress of science. This has lead to many cases of misfortune around the world for humans. Even if certain things are eliminated, today's civilization should have accomplished sufficient progress for human beings to live happily.
"If certain things are eliminated" means ‘war’. Politicians and heads of state say: "War is a justified method of securing peace." We have accepted this statement without questioning it. However, whether sides win or lose wars, war has destroyed people's definite purpose in life. We know this fact well. If you aren’t aware of this and wish to lead a happy life, it is necessary to get to know the cruelty and the misery of war through your own experience.
Thanks to the progress of science these days, we can live very comfortable lives. However, how much progress have we made spiritually?
The British philosopher Bertrand Russell said: "Human beings achieved scientific progress, which certainly deserves admiration. However, the progress in human beings’ minds has remained almost unchanged since primitive times." We must read many thoughts from in between these lines. In other words, although technology has progressed greatly, the state of our hearts has not advanced. The proof of that, is the fact that human beings have repeatedly caused war time and time again, and this situation still continues today. If wars continued to be waged today, weapons of mass-destruction will be used, human beings will perish on a vast scale, and the earth will be destroyed.
The 20th Century was a century of war. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and, with it, the Cold War era which had continued for circa 40 years came to an end. At that time, I thought that there could be hope for global peace to be realized. For the 21st Century, we hoped that it would be a 21st Century without wars, at least so that we could prove that the psychological state of human beings had made some advancement. However, reality sank in and people realized that there could be little hope for global peace in the near future.
September 11, 2001 saw the United States suffer 9/11. On March 20, 2003, war broke out in Iraq and serious problems continue in the Middle East (e.g. the situation in Israel/Palestine). Countries such as India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran have all run into developmental problems with nuclear weapons. If these situations are not righted, a situation may occur which might start a war which could lead to the destruction of the world.
Human beings experienced two world-scale wars in the 20th Century. The toll of those who lost their lives in World War I (which lasted about 4 years, 6 months) was about 10 million people. The number of the dead in World War II (which lasted about six years) is estimated to be about 50 million people.
According to data issued by the United Nations, after the end of World War II, (between 1945 and 1992) there were approximately 149 large-scale armed conflicts throughout the world. The number of those who lost their lives is thought to exceed 2,300,000 people. And the annual casualty count during this time is said to be twice the casualty count of the 19th Century and is 7 times the casualty count of the 18th Century. More than 90% of the casualties were non-combatant (civilian) deaths. As for the non-combatant deaths, most of them have been women and children. Although the Cold War era ended, around 2 million children were killed in the last 10 years of the 20th Century. Also, around 6 million children were seriously injured to the point of becoming disabled without hope of recovery. The global situation seems to just be worsening and not improving at all.
Everyone must have believed that further terrible wars (like the First and Second World Wars) would not come to pass any more. World leaders founded the so-called United Nations, in order to build permanent peace.
See the paragraph below, which is the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations:
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
・ to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has
brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
・ to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
・ to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from
・ treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
・ to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
AND FOR THESE ENDS
・ to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
・ to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
・ to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force
shall not be used, save in the common interest,
・ to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social
advancement of all peoples,
HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Until the 19th Century, it was considered that war was a lawful principle, because dispute settlement between countries was considered a last resort. However, since the advent of the League of Nations, it gradually came to be accepted that war is not a legal or rightful act after all, due to the fact that arms were modernized through scientific progress - as a result, arms became more lethal and therefore it became impossible to continue to consider them a lawful means of dispute settlement.
The leaders who drafted the Charter of the United Nations did not just speak out against war alone. The use of force itself was also condemned. That is to say that it states that collective enforcement measures can be carried out against any country which perpetrates an act which threatens peace or any country which invades another country. The measures can take the form of economic sanctions and/or military sanctions. The United Nations Security Council decides if and when to carry out enforcement. The decision cannot be made by a general meeting or a Director of the Executive Office of the United Nations ? they do not have the authority to do so.
Fundamentally, the enforcement action which has been carried out until the present day is a non-military enforcement, i.e. it takes the form of economic sanctions. Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), which had a government which enforced extreme racial discrimination in the country from the year 1965, and, in the 1970s, this turned into apartheid (the policy of racial segregation) in South Africa. In more recent times, Serbia and Montenegro (former Yugoslavia) experienced a period of armed conflict which was recognized as "the threat against peace." The United Nations Security Council performed various sanctions in all of the above cases; however, no military intervention ensued.
Why was there no military intervention? The reason is because no "United Nations Forces" (planned in the Charter of the United Nations (43 articles) had been established. After the inauguration of the United Nations, while discussions continued over 3 years, the plan was not worked on as it was overshadowed by the Cold War era and the impact of U.S. and Soviet relations.
The United Nations is called "a mechanism for peace." Nevertheless, it does not have its own forces which can suppress acts of aggression. As a result, the original purpose of establishing world-wide security cannot be achieved.
Although there was nothing in the Charter of the United Nations to compensate for the lack of its own military forces, Peace-Keeping Operations were introduced as a security mechanism. Peace-Keeping Operations are achieving many results, including preventing armed conflicts arising or starting up again. However, there is a limit to the powers of the operations as they are limited to just intervening and liaising in disputes.
If the United Nations did not exist, people would have no hope that global peace might be achievable in the near future. However, there is a serious defect in the United Nations which may negatively impact the United Nations’ credibility and the justification for its existence. The defect lies within the veto method of the member countries of the Security Council. If just one country (either the United States, Britain, Russia, France, or China - which are permanent members of the Security Council ? chooses to exercise their veto vote), the United Nations can do nothing. In the past, permanent member states of the Security Council have exercised their veto for their own interests or for some ulterior motive. As a result, the lives of many people, who could have been saved, have been lost.
One of the main principles of the United Nations is the multilateralism of "deciding everything together and doing everything together." In order to maintain good control over fairness in the international arena, it is necessary to improve the veto which some permanent member states belonging to the Security Council currently have. People throughout the world all want to live happily. However, various criteria, such as geographic areas, religion, race, ideology, economic factors, etc. result in a conflict of interest due to those differences. However, these differences ought not to be solved by war.
We want the development of cultural civilizations of humans to continue forever more. In order for that to come to pass, human beings have to mentally resolve not to wage war for any reason ? this is the most crucial factor.
If he learned this, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell would be grieving.
"Human beings achieved scientific progress, which certainly deserves admiration. However, the progress in human beings’ minds has remained almost unchanged since primitive times."
However, it was human beings’ conscience which leads us all to desire global peace. As a result, the Charter of the United Nations for global peace was brought into force. This was a great human achievement. However, although 60 years or more has passed since the Charter was introduced, still lasting peace cannot be guaranteed in the world. Why is that? It is because, when the interests are in conflict, latent egoistic desire starts to overwhelm the reasons which can be captured by psychological self-contradiction. It is important to overcome and find a solution to the latent egoistic desire, in order to attain further advancement in humans’ psychological state.
The leaders in the world do not come right out and say: "We like war." On the contrary, they all say: "We love peace." I am not going to deny this. However, behind these words, the leaders are working on the research and development of the new arms in order to annihilate more people. Furthermore, leaders think "in order to keep happiness in our home country, it’s justified to permit the extermination of people of other countries." It is human beings’ unconscious desire to maintain their own safety at the expense of the safety of others. It is that motivation which sits deep in the leaders’ hearts. That is to say, leaders who cause wars cannot gain control of their own personal egos and agendas.
I would like to think that this self-contradiction will be soon solved by human beings' mental/spiritual progress. However, time is passing by quickly and we need to find a solution.
The reason for the hurry is because there are numerous nuclear weapons in the world. Considering the state of the world today, such a serious situation can only lead to dire consequences if a solution is not found.
If nuclear weapons are used in war, many or all human beings will perish and the earth will be annihilated. The United States started waging a war in Iraq, knowing full well that Iraq held a large number of weapons of mass destruction. Since then, every day we have been hearing terrible news of some kind. It is estimated that nuclear weapons held by the
so-called developed countries, including the United States, amount to around 30,000. What do you think of this situation? It is good for us to sit back and do nothing about this? The reasons behind this make no difference. Just one nuclear missile is capable of destroying the earth.
Not only the United States, but also other countries owning nuclear weapons, say: “It’s fine for us to have our own nuclear weapons, but we don’t want to permit other countries to have them.” This is a very unfair and inconsistent way of thinking. A country which has nuclear weapons should be the first to dismantle all its nuclear weapons. At least those countries which own nuclear weapons should speak up, especially after declaring a "total dismantling of nuclear weapons." Such major nations of the world cannot exhibit such self-contradictory behaviour. If things remain they way they are now, global peace will remain an impossible dream forever more. The conventional methods of adjusting the various conflicts of interests cannot solve such problems.
The present state of affairs must be overthrown and a policy to help develop a future of permanent peace must be devised. To that end,
it is not the granting of privilege of armaments to particular countries which is required, but securing fairness throughout the world. How, specifically, should this be carried out? It should be carried out by implementing disarmament, i.e. abolishing all armaments. This solution
can transcend all selfish interests and can convince everyone of the need for lasting peace.
This means:
1. It is a pre-condition for all countries to pass an international law to abolish armaments throughout the world and to declare the abolition of nuclear weapons.
2. The introduction and implementation of an international law abolishing armaments.
3. The introduction and implementation an international tribunal for dispute conciliation.
4. The introduction and implementation of an international arms inspection body and the installation of international police force mechanism.
5. The maintenance of international law as a mechanism to ensure security for all people throughout the world.
In regards to the security of human beings ? it is obvious that it is difficult for human beings to say naturally "if armaments in the world are abolished, war will cease and peace will reign." Even if human beings stop waging war, the society which results cannot be said to be entirely peaceful. It could still be a society troubled with hunger and poverty, a society in which discrimination by race or religion exists, or might be a society where discrimination by sex/gender is deep-rooted. Security for human beings means to eliminate the problems which threaten the safety of the people in everyday life.
United Nations Development Program laid out its concept for the security of the world population in 1994. Already, at that time, one of the problems was to work out where the funding for the organization would come from.
Throughout the world, about 800 million people are hungry. 1,200 million people are not able to secure potable water. 12 million children under the age of 5 die every year.
The reality is that, world-wide, 850 million adults are illiterate. In order to raise the literacy level in the world, the additional expenditure needed to provide all citizens with a basic education was said to be $5-6 billion per annum or $6 billion.
Moreover, an estimate was made regarding how much expenditure would be required to reduce the high mortality rate of children under 5 ? the estimate turned out at around $5-7 billion to 7 billion.
Back then, it wasn’t possible to calculate an exact amount. Even today, it is still not possible to work out an exact figure. However, the cost of war this year is thought to be about $800 billion (in 2004, the cost was about $950 billion). The United Nations Development Programme has ascertained that it would not be a difficult task to reduce the amount of the expenditure on war world-wide and allot those funds towards human development (i.e. literacy or health programs).
If countries throughout the world were to disarm, a vast sum of each country’s budget which would have been spent on war could be put towards human development ? this would be a big step towards the realization of global peace.
For example, 50% of each country’s military budget is generally spent on the following:
1. Dismantling and removal of armaments owned by a country.
2. Converting the armaments industry into a non-military industry.
3. Military personnel’s benefits and support (helping military personnel find new professions, life insurance). If all countries of the world were to disarm and there were no more war, the cost of providing these would be eliminated completely.
In regards to the remaining 50%, these funds could be used to set up an international dispute conciliation court, an international arms inspection agency, an international police body, a mechanism for monitoring security etc.
The above-mentioned ideas are only a tentative plan of mine. If you can add your positive thoughts or comments, this would deepen and solidify my argument more. I am convinced that it is possible to realize such a plan.
As long as we long for happiness, we must never kill other people. We do not want to wage wars at all. In order to bring this about, we need to create a new world, a world without armaments.
I know for a fact that many people say that it’s impossible and foolish to wish for world-wide disarmament and that I should stop being an idealist. I have heard these types of criticism many times.
Still, I would like to appeal to those wise people around the world who sympathize with my ideals. I would like to bring about true global peace. I would like to gather wise people’s insights here for the future of human beings and for the planet.
The best way forward is to propose to the Security Council that armaments be dismantled as soon as possible. However, this would seem to be impossible in the present climate, due to each country having their own interests and agendas. If we leave our wishes in the hands of the current leaders of the United Nations, world peace will remain a dream for eternity.
Do you think that this would be enough?
Do you only wish for peace?
In order to realize global peace, national interests need to be transcended and fairness needs to be secured. These are both absolutely vital to bring about peace.
How should we go about achieving peace, then? It could be achieved through the global "abolition of armaments."
Therefore, I would like to reach out to the many “wise people of the world”. Let's announce our intention for the "abolition of armaments" to the rest of the world and start an international public opinion lobby.
Now is the age of the internet. Let's spread our wish regarding the abolition of armaments to people throughout the world via the internet. Let's appeal to public opinion that the United Nations should resolve to abolish all armaments.
The German philosopher, Emmanuel Kant, who wrote the book “Perpetual Peace” (“Zum ewigen Frieden”), stated as follows: "international laws should be built on the foundation of a united system of cooperation among free nations” and "standing armies (miles perpetuus) shall in time be totally abolished."
These words were written 200 or more years ago. There is just one country which has constitutionally abolished its army in modern times: the Republic of Costa Rica in Central America.
In my lifetime in Japan, in 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the close of World War II. This caused a terrible state of affairs and the Japanese people were forced to surrender to the Allied Forces. The Japanese people have reflected on war and have built the prosperity Japan has achieved today through the enforcement of a new Constitution, in 1947. The Constitution of Japan is a peace constitution which is an ideal model for human beings who wish to create a model to renounce war.
This is a part of the preface to the Constitution of Japan:
“We, determined that we shall secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty throughout this land, and resolved that never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people and do firmly establish this Constitution. Government is a sacred trust of the people, the authority for which is derived from the people, the powers of which are exercised by the representatives of the people, and the benefits of which are enjoyed by the people. This is a universal principle of mankind upon which this Constitution is founded. We reject and revoke all constitutions, laws ordinances, and rescripts in conflict herewith. We desire peace for all time and are deeply conscious of the high ideals controlling human relationship and we have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world. We desire to occupy an honored place in an international society striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth. We recognize that all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want. We believe that no nation is responsible to itself alone, but that laws of political morality are universal; and that obedience to such laws is incumbent upon all nations who would sustain their own sovereignty and justify their sovereign relationship with other nations. We pledge our national honor to accomplish these high ideals and purposes with all our resources.”
Article 9 from Chapter 2, the Renunciation of War, of the Constitution:
“Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
The Constitution of Japan is a peace constitution which a country can be proud of. However, today, there are the Self-Defense Forces whose focus is self-defense, and it holds military power which is equal to that of an army. Deliberations on amendments to the Constitution were made in recent years as well. The main section which has been revised is the Ninth Article of the Constitution.
The Constitution of Japan can be said to have emerged as a result of human beings’ long history of suffering. It is, surely, one piece of proof of human’s mental/spiritual progress. The Constitution of Japan can be said to be a valuable thing which should be spread throughout the world for the peace of all mankind, rather than just being a trend in the world.
Reference source: NHK TV Program “Ningen Kouga: Ima Heiwa To Wa (Lectures on Humanities: Thinking of Peace Today)”
Thank you for reading this long piece of text to the end.
In order to ensure lasting peace in the world, a fair process which transcends the interests of each individual country in the world is required. This process is that all countries throughout the world carry out the abolition of armaments simultaneously.
Those of you who wish for a happy life. Let's indicate our intention to the world regarding the abolition of armaments.
Also, please add this website/blog address regarding the abolition of armaments to your website or to the collection of links on your blog.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Human beings worked hard to drive forward scientific progress to the present day. This scientific progress has brought us many benefits. However, on the other hand, we have used the progress of science as a tool for eliminating human beings, and many lives have been claimed.
Should scientific progress be used as a tool to facilitate the happiness of human beings, or to cause their deaths? Our human spirituality will decide that. In other words, our human hearts determine everything.
Let's completely abolish armaments, once and for all, from the face of this earth.
All the causes that bring about war are in direct conflict with the interests produced by our hearts. We are governed by the forces of nature and are alive. Therefore, it is inevitable that differences arise due to natural environments, various interests and due to geographical and cultural differences. In order for human beings to live together peacefully, we have to admit this fact. We must obediently accept the law of nature, and we must learn how to deal with it as a common problem of mankind. To achieve this, human beings must develop a more advanced condition of the mind which will prevent conflicts and hostilities arising.
War is surely man's most foolish act. People are trying hard to live happy lives. However, many people's lives have already been claimed by war, hope has been destroyed and been taken away. Yet people have nurtured a desire for peace since time immemorial. But still we cannot get lasting peace in the world. Why is that? It is because human beings’ mentality is still lagging behind, although science has made rapid progress. The reason also lies in the self-contradictions of the sub-consciousness mind, which unconsciously lies in the inner part of our hearts as well.
I would like to think that these self-contradictions of the mind will soon be solved by human beings' wisdom. However, considering the sad state of the world today, we cannot wait for it to come much longer. Nuclear weapons are already present throughout the world. They will lead not only to the extinction of human beings, but also to the extinction of the earth, if we overlook trying to solve this problem. We definitely have to take steps to avoid this happening.
In order for human beings to ensure lasting peace in the world, we must completely eliminate the disparity of armaments and the conflicts in the interests of different nations immediately. The conventional methods to adjust these conflicts cannot accomplish this. No countries should be disadvantaged through this process, the aim should be to establish a fair process for all countries throughout the world. The best way for this to happen would be for all countries to disarm at the same time. This is the solution which would transcend all local and national interests and which would ensure no psychological contradictions.
* Although this is a long text, please read this to the end.
All people in the world want to live happy lives.
This wish originates from deep inside our hearts naturally. It should be one of our human rights and nobody should violate this right.
People’s desire to be happy has flourished in all religions and all civilizations/cultures. In most countries we should have been able to hope for a better life in the future, compared to how the world is today. However, regrettably, human beings' mental progress has not kept pace or caught up with progress of science. This has lead to many cases of misfortune around the world for humans. Even if certain things are eliminated, today's civilization should have accomplished sufficient progress for human beings to live happily.
"If certain things are eliminated" means ‘war’. Politicians and heads of state say: "War is a justified method of securing peace." We have accepted this statement without questioning it. However, whether sides win or lose wars, war has destroyed people's definite purpose in life. We know this fact well. If you aren’t aware of this and wish to lead a happy life, it is necessary to get to know the cruelty and the misery of war through your own experience.
Thanks to the progress of science these days, we can live very comfortable lives. However, how much progress have we made spiritually?
The British philosopher Bertrand Russell said: "Human beings achieved scientific progress, which certainly deserves admiration. However, the progress in human beings’ minds has remained almost unchanged since primitive times." We must read many thoughts from in between these lines. In other words, although technology has progressed greatly, the state of our hearts has not advanced. The proof of that, is the fact that human beings have repeatedly caused war time and time again, and this situation still continues today. If wars continued to be waged today, weapons of mass-destruction will be used, human beings will perish on a vast scale, and the earth will be destroyed.
The 20th Century was a century of war. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and, with it, the Cold War era which had continued for circa 40 years came to an end. At that time, I thought that there could be hope for global peace to be realized. For the 21st Century, we hoped that it would be a 21st Century without wars, at least so that we could prove that the psychological state of human beings had made some advancement. However, reality sank in and people realized that there could be little hope for global peace in the near future.
September 11, 2001 saw the United States suffer 9/11. On March 20, 2003, war broke out in Iraq and serious problems continue in the Middle East (e.g. the situation in Israel/Palestine). Countries such as India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran have all run into developmental problems with nuclear weapons. If these situations are not righted, a situation may occur which might start a war which could lead to the destruction of the world.
Human beings experienced two world-scale wars in the 20th Century. The toll of those who lost their lives in World War I (which lasted about 4 years, 6 months) was about 10 million people. The number of the dead in World War II (which lasted about six years) is estimated to be about 50 million people.
According to data issued by the United Nations, after the end of World War II, (between 1945 and 1992) there were approximately 149 large-scale armed conflicts throughout the world. The number of those who lost their lives is thought to exceed 2,300,000 people. And the annual casualty count during this time is said to be twice the casualty count of the 19th Century and is 7 times the casualty count of the 18th Century. More than 90% of the casualties were non-combatant (civilian) deaths. As for the non-combatant deaths, most of them have been women and children. Although the Cold War era ended, around 2 million children were killed in the last 10 years of the 20th Century. Also, around 6 million children were seriously injured to the point of becoming disabled without hope of recovery. The global situation seems to just be worsening and not improving at all.
Everyone must have believed that further terrible wars (like the First and Second World Wars) would not come to pass any more. World leaders founded the so-called United Nations, in order to build permanent peace.
See the paragraph below, which is the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations:
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
・ to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has
brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
・ to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
・ to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from
treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
・ to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
AND FOR THESE ENDS
・ to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
・ to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
・ to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force
shall not be used, save in the common interest,
・ to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social
advancement of all peoples,
HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Until the 19th Century, it was considered that war was a lawful principle, because dispute settlement between countries was considered a last resort. However, since the advent of the League of Nations, it gradually came to be accepted that war is not a legal or rightful act after all, due to the fact that arms were modernized through scientific progress - as a result, arms became more lethal and therefore it became impossible to continue to consider them a lawful means of dispute settlement.
The leaders who drafted the Charter of the United Nations did not just speak out against war alone. The use of force itself was also condemned. That is to say that it states that collective enforcement measures can be carried out against any country which perpetrates an act which threatens peace or any country which invades another country. The measures can take the form of economic sanctions and/or military sanctions. The United Nations Security Council decides if and when to carry out enforcement. The decision cannot be made by a general meeting or a Director of the Executive Office of the United Nations ? they do not have the authority to do so.
Fundamentally, the enforcement action which has been carried out until the present day is a non-military enforcement, i.e. it takes the form of economic sanctions. Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), which had a government which enforced extreme racial discrimination in the country from the year 1965, and, in the 1970s, this turned into apartheid (the policy of racial segregation) in South Africa. In more recent times, Serbia and Montenegro (former Yugoslavia) experienced a period of armed conflict which was recognized as "the threat against peace." The United Nations Security Council performed various sanctions in all of the above cases; however, no military intervention ensued.
Why was there no military intervention? The reason is because no "United Nations Forces" (planned in the Charter of the United Nations (43 articles) had been established. After the inauguration of the United Nations, while discussions continued over 3 years, the plan was not worked on as it was overshadowed by the Cold War era and the impact of U.S. and Soviet relations.
The United Nations is called "a mechanism for peace." Nevertheless, it does not have its own forces which can suppress acts of aggression. As a result, the original purpose of establishing world-wide security cannot be achieved.
Although there was nothing in the Charter of the United Nations to compensate for the lack of its own military forces, Peace-Keeping Operations were introduced as a security mechanism. Peace-Keeping Operations are achieving many results, including preventing armed conflicts arising or starting up again. However, there is a limit to the powers of the operations as they are limited to just intervening and liaising in disputes.
If the United Nations did not exist, people would have no hope that global peace might be achievable in the near future. However, there is a serious defect in the United Nations which may negatively impact the United Nations’ credibility and the justification for its existence. The defect lies within the veto method of the member countries of the Security Council. If just one country (either the United States, Britain, Russia, France, or China - which are permanent members of the Security Council ? chooses to exercise their veto vote), the United Nations can do nothing. In the past, permanent member states of the Security Council have exercised their veto for their own interests or for some ulterior motive. As a result, the lives of many people, who could have been saved, have been lost.
One of the main principles of the United Nations is the multilateralism of "deciding everything together and doing everything together." In order to maintain good control over fairness in the international arena, it is necessary to improve the veto which some permanent member states belonging to the Security Council currently have. People throughout the world all want to live happily. However, various criteria, such as geographic areas, religion, race, ideology, economic factors, etc. result in a conflict of interest due to those differences. However, these differences ought not to be solved by war.
We want the development of cultural civilizations of humans to continue forever more. In order for that to come to pass, human beings have to mentally resolve not to wage war for any reason ? this is the most crucial factor.
If he learned this, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell would be grieving.
"Human beings achieved scientific progress, which certainly deserves admiration. However, the progress in human beings’ minds has remained almost unchanged since primitive times."
However, it was human beings’ conscience which leads us all to desire global peace. As a result, the Charter of the United Nations for global peace was brought into force. This was a great human achievement. However, although 60 years or more has passed since the Charter was introduced, still lasting peace cannot be guaranteed in the world. Why is that? It is because, when the interests are in conflict, latent egoistic desire starts to overwhelm the reasons which can be captured by psychological self-contradiction. It is important to overcome and find a solution to the latent egoistic desire, in order to attain further advancement in humans’ psychological state.
The leaders in the world do not come right out and say: "We like war." On the contrary, they all say: "We love peace." I am not going to deny this. However, behind these words, the leaders are working on the research and development of the new arms in order to annihilate more people. Furthermore, leaders think "in order to keep happiness in our home country, it’s justified to permit the extermination of people of other countries." It is human beings’ unconscious desire to maintain their own safety at the expense of the safety of others. It is that motivation which sits deep in the leaders’ hearts. That is to say, leaders who cause wars cannot gain control of their own personal egos and agendas.
I would like to think that this self-contradiction will be soon solved by human beings' mental/spiritual progress. However, time is passing by quickly and we need to find a solution.
The reason for the hurry is because there are numerous nuclear weapons in the world. Considering the state of the world today, such a serious situation can only lead to dire consequences if a solution is not found.
If nuclear weapons are used in war, many or all human beings will perish and the earth will be annihilated. The United States started waging a war in Iraq, knowing full well that Iraq held a large number of weapons of mass destruction. Since then, every day we have been hearing terrible news of some kind. It is estimated that nuclear weapons held by the
so-called developed countries, including the United States, amount to around 30,000. What do you think of this situation? It is good for us to sit back and do nothing about this? The reasons behind this make no difference. Just one nuclear missile is capable of destroying the earth.
Not only the United States, but also other countries owning nuclear weapons, say: “It’s fine for us to have our own nuclear weapons, but we don’t want to permit other countries to have them.” This is a very unfair and inconsistent way of thinking. A country which has nuclear weapons should be the first to dismantle all its nuclear weapons. At least those countries which own nuclear weapons should speak up, especially after declaring a "total dismantling of nuclear weapons." Such major nations of the world cannot exhibit such self-contradictory behaviour. If things remain they way they are now, global peace will remain an impossible dream forever more. The conventional methods of adjusting the various conflicts of interests cannot solve such problems.
The present state of affairs must be overthrown and a policy to help develop a future of permanent peace must be devised. To that end,
it is not the granting of privilege of armaments to particular countries which is required, but securing fairness throughout the world. How, specifically, should this be carried out? It should be carried out by implementing disarmament, i.e. abolishing all armaments. This solution
can transcend all selfish interests and can convince everyone of the need for lasting peace.
This means:
1. It is a pre-condition for all countries to pass an international law to abolish armaments throughout the world and to declare the abolition of nuclear weapons.
2. The introduction and implementation of an international law abolishing armaments.
3. The introduction and implementation an international tribunal for dispute conciliation.
4. The introduction and implementation of an international arms inspection body and the installation of international police force mechanism.
5. The maintenance of international law as a mechanism to ensure security for all people throughout the world.
In regards to the security of human beings ? it is obvious that it is difficult for human beings to say naturally "if armaments in the world are abolished, war will cease and peace will reign." Even if human beings stop waging war, the society which results cannot be said to be entirely peaceful. It could still be a society troubled with hunger and poverty, a society in which discrimination by race or religion exists, or might be a society where discrimination by sex/gender is deep-rooted. Security for human beings means to eliminate the problems which threaten the safety of the people in everyday life.
United Nations Development Program laid out its concept for the security of the world population in 1994. Already, at that time, one of the problems was to work out where the funding for the organization would come from.
Throughout the world, about 800 million people are hungry. 1,200 million people are not able to secure potable water. 12 million children under the age of 5 die every year.
The reality is that, world-wide, 850 million adults are illiterate. In order to raise the literacy level in the world, the additional expenditure needed to provide all citizens with a basic education was said to be $5-6 billion per annum or $6 billion.
Moreover, an estimate was made regarding how much expenditure would be required to reduce the high mortality rate of children under 5 ? the estimate turned out at around $5-7 billion to 7 billion.
Back then, it wasn’t possible to calculate an exact amount. Even today, it is still not possible to work out an exact figure. However, the cost of war this year is thought to be about $800 billion (in 2004, the cost was about $950 billion). The United Nations Development Programme has ascertained that it would not be a difficult task to reduce the amount of the expenditure on war world-wide and allot those funds towards human development (i.e. literacy or health programs).
If countries throughout the world were to disarm, a vast sum of each country’s budget which would have been spent on war could be put towards human development ? this would be a big step towards the realization of global peace.
For example, 50% of each country’s military budget is generally spent on the following:
1. Dismantling and removal of armaments owned by a country.
2. Converting the armaments industry into a non-military industry.
3. Military personnel’s benefits and support (helping military personnel find new professions, life insurance). If all countries of the world were to disarm and there were no more war, the cost of providing these would be eliminated completely.
In regards to the remaining 50%, these funds could be used to set up an international dispute conciliation court, an international arms inspection agency, an international police body, a mechanism for monitoring security etc.
The above-mentioned ideas are only a tentative plan of mine. If you can add your positive thoughts or comments, this would deepen and solidify my argument more. I am convinced that it is possible to realize such a plan.
As long as we long for happiness, we must never kill other people. We do not want to wage wars at all. In order to bring this about, we need to create a new world, a world without armaments.
I know for a fact that many people say that it’s impossible and foolish to wish for world-wide disarmament and that I should stop being an idealist. I have heard these types of criticism many times.
Still, I would like to appeal to those wise people around the world who sympathize with my ideals. I would like to bring about true global peace. I would like to gather wise people’s insights here for the future of human beings and for the planet.
The best way forward is to propose to the Security Council that armaments be dismantled as soon as possible. However, this would seem to be impossible in the present climate, due to each country having their own interests and agendas. If we leave our wishes in the hands of the current leaders of the United Nations, world peace will remain a dream for eternity.
Do you think that this would be enough?
Do you only wish for peace?
In order to realize global peace, national interests need to be transcended and fairness needs to be secured. These are both absolutely vital to bring about peace.
How should we go about achieving peace, then? It could be achieved through the global "abolition of armaments."
Therefore, I would like to reach out to the many “wise people of the world”. Let's announce our intention for the "abolition of armaments" to the rest of the world and start an international public opinion lobby.
Now is the age of the internet. Let's spread our wish regarding the abolition of armaments to people throughout the world via the internet. Let's appeal to public opinion that the United Nations should resolve to abolish all armaments.
The German philosopher, Emmanuel Kant, who wrote the book “Perpetual Peace” (“Zum ewigen Frieden”), stated as follows: "international laws should be built on the foundation of a united system of cooperation among free nations” and "standing armies (miles perpetuus) shall in time be totally abolished."
These words were written 200 or more years ago. There is just one country which has constitutionally abolished its army in modern times: the Republic of Costa Rica in Central America.
In my lifetime in Japan, in 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the close of World War II. This caused a terrible state of affairs and the Japanese people were forced to surrender to the Allied Forces. The Japanese people have reflected on war and have built the prosperity Japan has achieved today through the enforcement of a new Constitution, in 1947. The Constitution of Japan is a peace constitution which is an ideal model for human beings who wish to create a model to renounce war.
This is a part of the preface to the Constitution of Japan:
“We, determined that we shall secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty throughout this land, and resolved that never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people and do firmly establish this Constitution. Government is a sacred trust of the people, the authority for which is derived from the people, the powers of which are exercised by the representatives of the people, and the benefits of which are enjoyed by the people. This is a universal principle of mankind upon which this Constitution is founded. We reject and revoke all constitutions, laws ordinances, and rescripts in conflict herewith. We desire peace for all time and are deeply conscious of the high ideals controlling human relationship and we have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world. We desire to occupy an honored place in an international society striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth. We recognize that all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want. We believe that no nation is responsible to itself alone, but that laws of political morality are universal; and that obedience to such laws is incumbent upon all nations who would sustain their own sovereignty and justify their sovereign relationship with other nations. We pledge our national honor to accomplish these high ideals and purposes with all our resources.”
Article 9 from Chapter 2, the Renunciation of War, of the Constitution:
“Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
The Constitution of Japan is a peace constitution which a country can be proud of. However, today, there are the Self-Defense Forces whose focus is self-defense, and it holds military power which is equal to that of an army. Deliberations on amendments to the Constitution were made in recent years as well. The main section which has been revised is the Ninth Article of the Constitution.
The Constitution of Japan can be said to have emerged as a result of human beings’ long history of suffering. It is, surely, one piece of proof of human’s mental/spiritual progress. The Constitution of Japan can be said to be a valuable thing which should be spread throughout the world for the peace of all mankind, rather than just being a trend in the world.
Reference source: NHK TV Program “Ningen Kouga: Ima Heiwa To Wa (Lectures on Humanities: Thinking of Peace Today)”
Thank you for reading this long piece of text to the end.
In order to ensure lasting peace in the world, a fair process which transcends the interests of each individual country in the world is required. This process is that all countries throughout the world carry out the abolition of armaments simultaneously.
Those of you who wish for a happy life. Let's indicate our intention to the world regarding the abolition of armaments.
Also, please add this website/blog address regarding the abolition of armaments to your website or to the collection of links on your blog.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Human beings worked hard to drive forward scientific progress to the present day. This scientific progress has brought us many benefits. However, on the other hand, we have used the progress of science as a tool for eliminating human beings, and many lives have been claimed.
Should scientific progress be used as a tool to facilitate the happiness of human beings, or to cause their deaths? Our human spirituality will decide that. In other words, our human hearts determine everything.
Let's completely abolish armaments, once and for all, from the face of this earth.
All the causes that bring about war are in direct conflict with the interests produced by our hearts. We are governed by the forces of nature and are alive. Therefore, it is inevitable that differences arise due to natural environments, various interests and due to geographical and cultural differences. In order for human beings to live together peacefully, we have to admit this fact. We must obediently accept the law of nature, and we must learn how to deal with it as a common problem of mankind. To achieve this, human beings must develop a more advanced condition of the mind which will prevent conflicts and hostilities arising.
War is surely man's most foolish act. People are trying hard to live happy lives. However, many people's lives have already been claimed by war, hope has been destroyed and been taken away. Yet people have nurtured a desire for peace since time immemorial. But still we cannot get lasting peace in the world. Why is that? It is because human beings’ mentality is still lagging behind, although science has made rapid progress. The reason also lies in the self-contradictions of the sub-consciousness mind, which unconsciously lies in the inner part of our hearts as well.
I would like to think that these self-contradictions of the mind will soon be solved by human beings' wisdom. However, considering the sad state of the world today, we cannot wait for it to come much longer. Nuclear weapons are already present throughout the world. They will lead not only to the extinction of human beings, but also to the extinction of the earth, if we overlook trying to solve this problem. We definitely have to take steps to avoid this happening.
In order for human beings to ensure lasting peace in the world, we must completely eliminate the disparity of armaments and the conflicts in the interests of different nations immediately. The conventional methods to adjust these conflicts cannot accomplish this. No countries should be disadvantaged through this process, the aim should be to establish a fair process for all countries throughout the world. The best way for this to happen would be for all countries to disarm at the same time. This is the solution which would transcend all local and national interests and which would ensure no psychological contradictions.
* Although this is a long text, please read this to the end.
All people in the world want to live happy lives.
This wish originates from deep inside our hearts naturally. It should be one of our human rights and nobody should violate this right.
People’s desire to be happy has flourished in all religions and all civilizations/cultures. In most countries we should have been able to hope for a better life in the future, compared to how the world is today. However, regrettably, human beings' mental progress has not kept pace or caught up with progress of science. This has lead to many cases of misfortune around the world for humans. Even if certain things are eliminated, today's civilization should have accomplished sufficient progress for human beings to live happily.
"If certain things are eliminated" means ‘war’. Politicians and heads of state say: "War is a justified method of securing peace." We have accepted this statement without questioning it. However, whether sides win or lose wars, war has destroyed people's definite purpose in life. We know this fact well. If you aren’t aware of this and wish to lead a happy life, it is necessary to get to know the cruelty and the misery of war through your own experience.
Thanks to the progress of science these days, we can live very comfortable lives. However, how much progress have we made spiritually?
The British philosopher Bertrand Russell said: "Human beings achieved scientific progress, which certainly deserves admiration. However, the progress in human beings’ minds has remained almost unchanged since primitive times." We must read many thoughts from in between these lines. In other words, although technology has progressed greatly, the state of our hearts has not advanced. The proof of that, is the fact that human beings have repeatedly caused war time and time again, and this situation still continues today. If wars continued to be waged today, weapons of mass-destruction will be used, human beings will perish on a vast scale, and the earth will be destroyed.
The 20th Century was a century of war. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and, with it, the Cold War era which had continued for circa 40 years came to an end. At that time, I thought that there could be hope for global peace to be realized. For the 21st Century, we hoped that it would be a 21st Century without wars, at least so that we could prove that the psychological state of human beings had made some advancement. However, reality sank in and people realized that there could be little hope for global peace in the near future.
September 11, 2001 saw the United States suffer 9/11. On March 20, 2003, war broke out in Iraq and serious problems continue in the Middle East (e.g. the situation in Israel/Palestine). Countries such as India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran have all run into developmental problems with nuclear weapons. If these situations are not righted, a situation may occur which might start a war which could lead to the destruction of the world.
Human beings experienced two world-scale wars in the 20th Century. The toll of those who lost their lives in World War I (which lasted about 4 years, 6 months) was about 10 million people. The number of the dead in World War II (which lasted about six years) is estimated to be about 50 million people.
According to data issued by the United Nations, after the end of World War II, (between 1945 and 1992) there were approximately 149 large-scale armed conflicts throughout the world. The number of those who lost their lives is thought to exceed 2,300,000 people. And the annual casualty count during this time is said to be twice the casualty count of the 19th Century and is 7 times the casualty count of the 18th Century. More than 90% of the casualties were non-combatant (civilian) deaths. As for the non-combatant deaths, most of them have been women and children. Although the Cold War era ended, around 2 million children were killed in the last 10 years of the 20th Century. Also, around 6 million children were seriously injured to the point of becoming disabled without hope of recovery. The global situation seems to just be worsening and not improving at all.
Everyone must have believed that further terrible wars (like the First and Second World Wars) would not come to pass any more. World leaders founded the so-called United Nations, in order to build permanent peace.
See the paragraph below, which is the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations:
WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
・ to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has
brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
・ to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
・ to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from
treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
・ to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
AND FOR THESE ENDS
・ to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
・ to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
・ to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force
shall not be used, save in the common interest,
・ to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social
advancement of all peoples,
HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Until the 19th Century, it was considered that war was a lawful principle, because dispute settlement between countries was considered a last resort. However, since the advent of the League of Nations, it gradually came to be accepted that war is not a legal or rightful act after all, due to the fact that arms were modernized through scientific progress - as a result, arms became more lethal and therefore it became impossible to continue to consider them a lawful means of dispute settlement.
The leaders who drafted the Charter of the United Nations did not just speak out against war alone. The use of force itself was also condemned. That is to say that it states that collective enforcement measures can be carried out against any country which perpetrates an act which threatens peace or any country which invades another country. The measures can take the form of economic sanctions and/or military sanctions. The United Nations Security Council decides if and when to carry out enforcement. The decision cannot be made by a general meeting or a Director of the Executive Office of the United Nations ? they do not have the authority to do so.
Fundamentally, the enforcement action which has been carried out until the present day is a non-military enforcement, i.e. it takes the form of economic sanctions. Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe), which had a government which enforced extreme racial discrimination in the country from the year 1965, and, in the 1970s, this turned into apartheid (the policy of racial segregation) in South Africa. In more recent times, Serbia and Montenegro (former Yugoslavia) experienced a period of armed conflict which was recognized as "the threat against peace." The United Nations Security Council performed various sanctions in all of the above cases; however, no military intervention ensued.
Why was there no military intervention? The reason is because no "United Nations Forces" (planned in the Charter of the United Nations (43 articles) had been established. After the inauguration of the United Nations, while discussions continued over 3 years, the plan was not worked on as it was overshadowed by the Cold War era and the impact of U.S. and Soviet relations.
The United Nations is called "a mechanism for peace." Nevertheless, it does not have its own forces which can suppress acts of aggression. As a result, the original purpose of establishing world-wide security cannot be achieved.
Although there was nothing in the Charter of the United Nations to compensate for the lack of its own military forces, Peace-Keeping Operations were introduced as a security mechanism. Peace-Keeping Operations are achieving many results, including preventing armed conflicts arising or starting up again. However, there is a limit to the powers of the operations as they are limited to just intervening and liaising in disputes.
If the United Nations did not exist, people would have no hope that global peace might be achievable in the near future. However, there is a serious defect in the United Nations which may negatively impact the United Nations’ credibility and the justification for its existence. The defect lies within the veto method of the member countries of the Security Council. If just one country (either the United States, Britain, Russia, France, or China - which are permanent members of the Security Council ? chooses to exercise their veto vote), the United Nations can do nothing. In the past, permanent member states of the Security Council have exercised their veto for their own interests or for some ulterior motive. As a result, the lives of many people, who could have been saved, have been lost.
One of the main principles of the United Nations is the multilateralism of "deciding everything together and doing everything together." In order to maintain good control over fairness in the international arena, it is necessary to improve the veto which some permanent member states belonging to the Security Council currently have. People throughout the world all want to live happily. However, various criteria, such as geographic areas, religion, race, ideology, economic factors, etc. result in a conflict of interest due to those differences. However, these differences ought not to be solved by war.
We want the development of cultural civilizations of humans to continue forever more. In order for that to come to pass, human beings have to mentally resolve not to wage war for any reason ? this is the most crucial factor.
If he learned this, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell would be grieving.
"Human beings achieved scientific progress, which certainly deserves admiration. However, the progress in human beings’ minds has remained almost unchanged since primitive times."
However, it was human beings’ conscience which leads us all to desire global peace. As a result, the Charter of the United Nations for global peace was brought into force. This was a great human achievement. However, although 60 years or more has passed since the Charter was introduced, still lasting peace cannot be guaranteed in the world. Why is that? It is because, when the interests are in conflict, latent egoistic desire starts to overwhelm the reasons which can be captured by psychological self-contradiction. It is important to overcome and find a solution to the latent egoistic desire, in order to attain further advancement in humans’ psychological state.
The leaders in the world do not come right out and say: "We like war." On the contrary, they all say: "We love peace." I am not going to deny this. However, behind these words, the leaders are working on the research and development of the new arms in order to annihilate more people. Furthermore, leaders think "in order to keep happiness in our home country, it’s justified to permit the extermination of people of other countries." It is human beings’ unconscious desire to maintain their own safety at the expense of the safety of others. It is that motivation which sits deep in the leaders’ hearts. That is to say, leaders who cause wars cannot gain control of their own personal egos and agendas.
I would like to think that this self-contradiction will be soon solved by human beings' mental/spiritual progress. However, time is passing by quickly and we need to find a solution.
The reason for the hurry is because there are numerous nuclear weapons in the world. Considering the state of the world today, such a serious situation can only lead to dire consequences if a solution is not found.
If nuclear weapons are used in war, many or all human beings will perish and the earth will be annihilated. The United States started waging a war in Iraq, knowing full well that Iraq held a large number of weapons of mass destruction. Since then, every day we have been hearing terrible news of some kind. It is estimated that nuclear weapons held by the
so-called developed countries, including the United States, amount to around 30,000. What do you think of this situation? It is good for us to sit back and do nothing about this? The reasons behind this make no difference. Just one nuclear missile is capable of destroying the earth.
Not only the United States, but also other countries owning nuclear weapons, say: “It’s fine for us to have our own nuclear weapons, but we don’t want to permit other countries to have them.” This is a very unfair and inconsistent way of thinking. A country which has nuclear weapons should be the first to dismantle all its nuclear weapons. At least those countries which own nuclear weapons should speak up, especially after declaring a "total dismantling of nuclear weapons." Such major nations of the world cannot exhibit such self-contradictory behaviour. If things remain they way they are now, global peace will remain an impossible dream forever more. The conventional methods of adjusting the various conflicts of interests cannot solve such problems.
The present state of affairs must be overthrown and a policy to help develop a future of permanent peace must be devised. To that end,
it is not the granting of privilege of armaments to particular countries which is required, but securing fairness throughout the world. How, specifically, should this be carried out? It should be carried out by implementing disarmament, i.e. abolishing all armaments. This solution
can transcend all selfish interests and can convince everyone of the need for lasting peace.
This means:
1. It is a pre-condition for all countries to pass an international law to abolish armaments throughout the world and to declare the abolition of nuclear weapons.
2. The introduction and implementation of an international law abolishing armaments.
3. The introduction and implementation an international tribunal for dispute conciliation.
4. The introduction and implementation of an international arms inspection body and the installation of international police force mechanism.
5. The maintenance of international law as a mechanism to ensure security for all people throughout the world.
In regards to the security of human beings ? it is obvious that it is difficult for human beings to say naturally "if armaments in the world are abolished, war will cease and peace will reign." Even if human beings stop waging war, the society which results cannot be said to be entirely peaceful. It could still be a society troubled with hunger and poverty, a society in which discrimination by race or religion exists, or might be a society where discrimination by sex/gender is deep-rooted. Security for human beings means to eliminate the problems which threaten the safety of the people in everyday life.
United Nations Development Program laid out its concept for the security of the world population in 1994. Already, at that time, one of the problems was to work out where the funding for the organization would come from.
Throughout the world, about 800 million people are hungry. 1,200 million people are not able to secure potable water. 12 million children under the age of 5 die every year.
The reality is that, world-wide, 850 million adults are illiterate. In order to raise the literacy level in the world, the additional expenditure needed to provide all citizens with a basic education was said to be $5-6 billion per annum or $6 billion.
Moreover, an estimate was made regarding how much expenditure would be required to reduce the high mortality rate of children under 5 ? the estimate turned out at around $5-7 billion to 7 billion.
Back then, it wasn’t possible to calculate an exact amount. Even today, it is still not possible to work out an exact figure. However, the cost of war this year is thought to be about $800 billion (in 2004, the cost was about $950 billion). The United Nations Development Programme has ascertained that it would not be a difficult task to reduce the amount of the expenditure on war world-wide and allot those funds towards human development (i.e. literacy or health programs).
If countries throughout the world were to disarm, a vast sum of each country’s budget which would have been spent on war could be put towards human development ? this would be a big step towards the realization of global peace.
For example, 50% of each country’s military budget is generally spent on the following:
1. Dismantling and removal of armaments owned by a country.
2. Converting the armaments industry into a non-military industry.
3. Military personnel’s benefits and support (helping military personnel find new professions, life insurance). If all countries of the world were to disarm and there were no more war, the cost of providing these would be eliminated completely.
In regards to the remaining 50%, these funds could be used to set up an international dispute conciliation court, an international arms inspection agency, an international police body, a mechanism for monitoring security etc.
The above-mentioned ideas are only a tentative plan of mine. If you can add your positive thoughts or comments, this would deepen and solidify my argument more. I am convinced that it is possible to realize such a plan.
As long as we long for happiness, we must never kill other people. We do not want to wage wars at all. In order to bring this about, we need to create a new world, a world without armaments.
I know for a fact that many people say that it’s impossible and foolish to wish for world-wide disarmament and that I should stop being an idealist. I have heard these types of criticism many times.
Still, I would like to appeal to those wise people around the world who sympathize with my ideals. I would like to bring about true global peace. I would like to gather wise people’s insights here for the future of human beings and for the planet.
The best way forward is to propose to the Security Council that armaments be dismantled as soon as possible. However, this would seem to be impossible in the present climate, due to each country having their own interests and agendas. If we leave our wishes in the hands of the current leaders of the United Nations, world peace will remain a dream for eternity.
Do you think that this would be enough?
Do you only wish for peace?
In order to realize global peace, national interests need to be transcended and fairness needs to be secured. These are both absolutely vital to bring about peace.
How should we go about achieving peace, then? It could be achieved through the global "abolition of armaments."
Therefore, I would like to reach out to the many “wise people of the world”. Let's announce our intention for the "abolition of armaments" to the rest of the world and start an international public opinion lobby.
Now is the age of the internet. Let's spread our wish regarding the abolition of armaments to people throughout the world via the internet. Let's appeal to public opinion that the United Nations should resolve to abolish all armaments.
The German philosopher, Emmanuel Kant, who wrote the book “Perpetual Peace” (“Zum ewigen Frieden”), stated as follows: "international laws should be built on the foundation of a united system of cooperation among free nations” and "standing armies (miles perpetuus) shall in time be totally abolished."
These words were written 200 or more years ago. There is just one country which has constitutionally abolished its army in modern times: the Republic of Costa Rica in Central America.
In my lifetime in Japan, in 1945 atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the close of World War II. This caused a terrible state of affairs and the Japanese people were forced to surrender to the Allied Forces. The Japanese people have reflected on war and have built the prosperity Japan has achieved today through the enforcement of a new Constitution, in 1947. The Constitution of Japan is a peace constitution which is an ideal model for human beings who wish to create a model to renounce war.
This is a part of the preface to the Constitution of Japan:
“We, determined that we shall secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty throughout this land, and resolved that never again shall we be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government, do proclaim that sovereign power resides with the people and do firmly establish this Constitution. Government is a sacred trust of the people, the authority for which is derived from the people, the powers of which are exercised by the representatives of the people, and the benefits of which are enjoyed by the people. This is a universal principle of mankind upon which this Constitution is founded. We reject and revoke all constitutions, laws ordinances, and rescripts in conflict herewith. We desire peace for all time and are deeply conscious of the high ideals controlling human relationship and we have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world. We desire to occupy an honored place in an international society striving for the preservation of peace, and the banishment of tyranny and slavery, oppression and intolerance for all time from the earth. We recognize that all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want. We believe that no nation is responsible to itself alone, but that laws of political morality are universal; and that obedience to such laws is incumbent upon all nations who would sustain their own sovereignty and justify their sovereign relationship with other nations. We pledge our national honor to accomplish these high ideals and purposes with all our resources.”
Article 9 from Chapter 2, the Renunciation of War, of the Constitution:
“Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.
2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
The Constitution of Japan is a peace constitution which a country can be proud of. However, today, there are the Self-Defense Forces whose focus is self-defense, and it holds military power which is equal to that of an army. Deliberations on amendments to the Constitution were made in recent years as well. The main section which has been revised is the Ninth Article of the Constitution.
The Constitution of Japan can be said to have emerged as a result of human beings’ long history of suffering. It is, surely, one piece of proof of human’s mental/spiritual progress. The Constitution of Japan can be said to be a valuable thing which should be spread throughout the world for the peace of all mankind, rather than just being a trend in the world.
Reference source: NHK TV Program “Ningen Kouga: Ima Heiwa To Wa (Lectures on Humanities: Thinking of Peace Today)”
Thank you for reading this long piece of text to the end.
In order to ensure lasting peace in the world, a fair process which transcends the interests of each individual country in the world is required. This process is that all countries throughout the world carry out the abolition of armaments simultaneously.
Those of you who wish for a happy life. Let's indicate our intention to the world regarding the abolition of armaments.
Also, please add this website/blog address regarding the abolition of armaments to your website or to the collection of links on your blog.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Website:
http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~kansyou/gunbimaen.html
* Please send me your opinion.
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