i'm a bastard child. grew up in sri lanka, of mixed ethnicity, wrong last name to live in the south, wrong language to survive in the north. common story, except i was lucky enough to leave. and of course guilty about it ever since.

i'm starting to loose any idealism i had in me. i've been working for the u.n. for the last couple years and have stopped believing that peaceful resolution is a possibility for our species. i'm about ready to quit. life was simpler helping people with a lot of money make more money. at least the agenda was clear. and sorry about venting, but i'm in need of a bit of group peace therapy...

of course it's a gross generalization to say anything about "the species", but really, how were we able to kill over 180 million of each other in the last century? and why do we seem to keep committing the most vicious acts to each other? yes power, yes "security", yes democracy, but at what cost? is peace and non-violence ever going to be more than an aspiration? why are the peaceful a minority? where are the stories of systemic and peaceful change for the better? hopefully i've just been blind to the possibility of peace, and need to wake up.

after 30 odd years of trying to articulate how i feel about this issue, and trying to find a way to contribute in some way, the best i've come up with is to try to make peace cool and accessible by posing a naive question to the world - why not peace? check out http://www.ubawear.com/pcpre05/ss2.php

if you'd like to help spread this message, please do. yes it might seem trite, but I do believe that elevating an issue into popular culture (which is more like lowering it to the lowest common denominator) can change attitudes (and thus behavior). if you don't agree, that's ok, but do let me know if you have any recent stories of peaceful resolution that have actually been successful (unlike the "peace talks" in my home country).

Raj