The world is trapped in a cycle of violence. It is easy to see violence everywhere, in our newspapers, in our television shows and movies, in our games, in our language, and in our streets. The problem of violence has two sides – the real violence that we accept or even applaud and the violent images in our culture that we consume in our media. These two sides of violence reinforce each other until we can no longer recognize exactly how destructive and common violence has become.

Violence extends from the personal tragedy of child abuse to the public tragedy of war. Although society condemns some forms of violence, such as violent crime, most societies praise violence in many forms. In fact, we are taught that violence is often the correct response to problems. We are taught that war is inevitable and is often the right action to take. We are told that fighting and even killing other human beings is necessary and proper.

Nobel Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel on Breaking the Cycle of Violence

“As people, we have to build bridges amongst ourselves we have to build bridges of humanity and peace in order to confront the conflicts and the war, the violence that we see and experience throughout our world.”

This point of view is supported by a culture that often glorifies violence. Movies, television shows and even lyrics to songs tell us that violence is not just necessary, but good. Beyond that, our culture makes us numb to violence by exposing us constantly to violent images. For example, by the time they are 18, Americans seen an average of 200,000 violent acts on television alone. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, 61% of all television programs contain some violence, and of those, only 4% feature an anti-violence theme. When we are flooded with such continual violence, we cannot help but think of our world in the terms and the language of violence.

This constant assault of violent images makes it nearly impossible to understand that there can be nonviolent solutions to many of the world’s problems. Yet we must educate ourselves to the possibility of nonviolent solutions to the world’s problems. A peaceful world, one without war and armies is not a utopian dream.

After World War II, Japan’s constitution has banned them from having a traditional military. Instead, they have “Self-Defense Forces” which are very limited in their scope. Costa Rica completely abolished its military in 1949. Since then, they have not been involved in any war and have been able to live peacefully as a country. Creating a peaceful world will not be easy, but the first step is to get people to accept that peace is possible. On a personal level, people must be taught not to use violence to solve their problems. This should be part of the education that all children receive, both at home and at school.

As our world has become more interconnected and interdependent, it is more important than ever to work for peace. At the same time, the growing links between people, cultures and nations makes peace more of a possibility than at any time in the past. Working for a peaceful world is a one of the critical tasks that faces us today.