http://www.mauiweekly.com/features/story2348.aspxCongressman Dennis Kucinich visits Maui on his continuing campaign for domestic and international peace.
In the 2004 Democratic caucus, Congressman Dennis Kucinich was Maui’s choice for President of the United States. John Kerry took the vote statewide, but Kucinich still feels an attachment to Hawai‘i, and to Maui in particular. He returned to the Valley Isle last week to show support for the reelection of Senator Daniel Akaka.
“I share with Maui a sense of beauty, a connection to the natural world. And that is the essence of peace,” said Kucinich. The notion of peace has been at the forefront of Kucinich’s campaigns throughout his career. One of his most prestigious projects is a bill (HR 3760) he proposed in 2001 for a U.S. Department of Peace (DOP)—the Congressman’s idea to counteract the Department of Defense. And since we already have military academies, he proposes a Peace Academy, which, among other things, would train international peacekeepers.
As of Thursday, Aug. 9, when the Maui Weekly was offered the opportunity to speak with Kucinich, HR 3760 had 74 co-sponsors, and the list continues to grow. The bill is based on a 1798 proposal by founding father Benjamin Rush, who wrote an essay called “A Plan of a Peace-Office for the United States.”
Rush’s ideas may have seemed radical then, but the premise of peace was behind his every word, from banning military uniforms and titles (“…were there no uniforms, there would probably be no armies.”) to furnishing every American family with a Bible, free of charge. Rush envisioned a group of young ladies, “clad in white robes,” to assemble at the Peace-Office at a certain time every day, to sing songs and anthems in praise of peace. Additionally, he believed that the sign over the door of the War Office should read something like, “An office for butchering the human species.”
But profound words were written by Rush, and most passionately. “It is to be hoped that no objection will be made to the establishment of such an office, for as the War-Office of the United States was established in a time of peace, it is equally reasonable that a Peace-Office should be established in the time of war.”
These words, born out of frustration 200 years ago, seem just as appropriate now as they did then, and Kucinich has brought them back to life as he promotes the DOP. In addition to vying for a cabinet-level department, the DOP is a grassroots political movement, lobbying for the endorsements of congressional leaders. It is led by Kucinich and motivational speaker Marianne Williamson.
The DOP has many of the same mandates as the existing U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), established in 1986 from recommendations by Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawai‘i. The USIP is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress, and its mission is to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and democratic transformations, and increase peace-building capacity.
But the DOP goes beyond these measures. Some of the core ideas of the DOP are in response to acts of war and terrorism, such as monitoring all domestic arms production and making regular recommendations to the U.S. President for various arms reduction strategies. But it is also highly focused on what happens here at home, on areas such as domestic violence, crime prevention, animal rights and drug rehabilitation. It would develop an educational media program to promote non-violence in the domestic media and monitor Human Rights, both domestically and abroad.
“Domestically,” said Kucinich, “the DOP would address violence in the home, spousal abuse, child abuse, gangs and police-community relations conflicts, and would work with individuals and groups to achieve changes in attitudes that examine the mythologies of cherished world views, such as ‘violence is inevitable,’ or ‘war is inevitable.’ Nonviolence and peace are inevitable.”
When asked if he believes the DOP will be established soon, Kucinich replied, “It’ll happen. The nation is tired of violence. It’ll happen. In government, we should have people who understand that we are given this world, and from it we can create beauty and joy.”
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