Al Wood of the mighty ukulelehunt has been doing his bit to promote Ukuleles for Peace. Ukuleles for Peace is one of many groups that aim to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together in a fun and peaceful environment. Sometimes I suspect half the population of the West Bank is there to set up such groups, but this is the best one, since it’s with ukuleles.
acilius
believer1
lefalcon
losthunderlads
vthunderlad
Panther Red 
cymast
/ December 18, 2008There should be more groups like this all over the world. Cooperation, respect, and diplomacy classes should be taught in every grade starting in kindergarden.
acilius
/ December 19, 2008Most definitely there should be more groups like this. And why wait until kindergarten to start teaching cooperation, respect, and diplomacy? Those sound like “P-16” (preschool through bachelor’s degree) subjects to me.
cymast
/ December 19, 2008I’m not sure a preschooler would be sophisticated enough to understand and appreciate diplomacy. But then again, I’m not a humanist. And I think if by the time one enters college- having had cooperation, respect, and diplomacy in every grade- one either gets it or doesn’t get it, period.
acilius
/ December 20, 2008The preschool I know most about is the one sponsored by the Quaker meeting Mrs Acilius and I attend. Their idea seems to be that nonviolent conflict resolution skills should be seen as a continuum. In early childhood you acquire certain basic skills, later in childhood you learn how to combine those skills with each other and with new skills to develop ways building a nonviolent life. The highest forms of diplomacy, they seem to suggest, are just the most elaborate combinations of skills you should start learning as you emerge from infancy.
cymast
/ December 20, 2008That makes sense. Now why can’t other people see how preferable that is to hate and war? So much wasted energy. And for what? The human condition is mental illness.
acilius
/ January 6, 2009That’s for sure. So far as I can see most people seem to have some range of situations in which they can be trusted to behave rationally, outside that range they all get pretty screwy pretty fast. What situations are in the safe range seem to differ from person to person. Some situations don’t seem to be in anyone’s safe range- wielding great political power, for example. Some people can remain tolerable while holding a little authority for a limited time under the close supervision of others, but entrust anyone with much more than that and you get wretchedness every time.