Customer Reviews

Give Peace a Deadline: What Ordinary People Can Do to Cause World Peace in Five Years

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I confess up front I've only read excerpts of this book, but if the rest is anything like what I read, I can't be as optimistic as they are. Thomas Sowell so eloquently put it that we can have peace tomorrow if we're willing to risk slavery or even death. I can't see how anyone can negotiate with radicalized Islam no matter how it may profit the human race. They want world Islam, which they see as the only thing that truly is profitable. They're not interested in profits the way the authors are.

Nor could we negotiate with the old Soviet Union. While we were able to win the cold war without firing a shot, we only did it by bankrupting them. They' weren't interested in profits either. They wanted world communism. I don't doubt the authors' good intentions and much of what they say can benefit mankind whether war is abolished or not, but the entire fallacy of this book seems to be that everyone thinks or can be made to think like us. I'm gratified they mentioned that often governments and NGOs often have wasteful and incomplete programs to help the poor. That alone kept me from giving it only one star.

This book not only shows how peace is possible, it teaches you how to reach a goal, how to accomplish things. It was written by people who know how to get things done, and it can teach you how to do it also, specifically in the area of peace (which is important).

This book was funny. Only it wasn't a comedy. It was serious. Which makes it really pathetic. When I picked it up I was skeptical, but I thought, hey, even if the goal isn't achievable, at least maybe it will have some good ideas in it.

But no.

No. It does not have some good ideas.

It does have very funny ideas peppered through-out. Like "get some friends to join you".

One of the most provocative bumper stickers I've ever seen says "World peace begins at home". And that makes me think of domestic violence. There will be no world peace until all domestic violence and sexual abuse has ended. Whew, that goal is overwhelming enough to think about. How about school bullying- like the kind that caused Phoebe Prince to commit suicide? How about FGM? Hate crimes? Then you add to that list all the specific tribal and governmental wars going on; the genocide in Rwanda, etc; you've got yourself a pretty daunting list of "non-peace" to deal with in five years. The only way to tackle a goal like that is to take each issue one by one and come up with a plan for end in five years. Say... negotiate with some leaders, assassinate the ones who will not negotiate, numerous peace accords, and the one suggestion the book does make: financial sanctions. Is that list and time-line realistic? No, it's laughable.

As a Christian, I can't help but reflect on the Biblical prophesies concerning peace, which claim that Israel and Palestine will not achieve peace until the end of time. It says that there will be a 1000 years of peace, but that's only after the second coming of the Messiah. So, unless the Messiah is coming in 2014, I do not foresee World Peace.

I admire the book for suggesting that there are specific things we can do to achieve world peace. That is a fresh outlook to the subject. But it's completely unrealistic and unhelpful. I would have respected it if the authors took each "non-peace" conflict currently going on and wrote a chapter on how to solve that particular problem and included a tip on what you can do about it. Tips like:

* Don't buy blood diamonds
* Only pay for items a price which would allow for living-wages for the workers who produced said item
* Volunteer at an orphanage in Romania
* Know a good hit-man? Call this 800 number to recommend him, we will need him to take out (fill in the blank) dictator.

If you are passionate about promoting world peace but don't know where to begin, read this book. It's not a pie-in-the-sky theory. It's a self-help book for those who want to make a difference but feel overwhelmed. It's upbeat, hopeful, encouraging, practical, insightful, creative, educational and inspirational...and it walks you through the process. It has worksheets to help you realize your potential and helps narrow your field of vision so you can concentrate on your strong points and not flounder about not knowing what direction to take. I have recommended it to everyone I know. One person can make a difference, so get started today! [...]

As someone who follows politics and world affairs in great detail, I was immediately attracted to read this work. Upon reading, I realized and respected the greatness of the goal they have set out to achieve. I can think of no more noble and worthy purpose of one's life than to direct focus and attention and dedication to the final achievement of world peace. This is not a book that speaks in generals or what-ifs, or dreams or mirrors. This IS a book filled with both passion and research. The authors have clearly committed themselves to this cause and have made it the number one priority in their lives to not only create this specific plan and strategy, but to live their day to day lives with this in the front of their minds.

Peace has been given plenty of chances. It's about time to make it happen. "Give Peace a Deadline: What Ordinary People Can do to Cause World Peace in Five Years" is an empowering manual encouraging normal everyday people to achieve something that the most people at the highest ranks of power view impossible - achieve world peace. Saying that peace will come through activism, Otto & Lupton dream that 2014 will be a year that does not know war. "Give Peace a Deadline" is a must for those who wish for world peace and want to do more than just wish.

As I've traveled from country to country, often hitchhiking and living off of the good will of others, it has amazed me time and again how genuinely good the people are of each country. What amazed me even more was how often I was expecting the people to be killers or racists... then was promptly proved otherwise. What I like most about "Give Peace a Deadline" is that it directly talks to the citizens, organizations and corporations of each country far more than it does their governments, and bringing them in to a conversation that has not taken place like this before.

World peace has a deadline. By February 14th, 2014, there will be an end to politically organized violence. The book offers ways that a person could bring about world peace from their sofa, or how they could organize teams to create even greater change. With modern technology, such as networking applications and text-messaging, the citizens of each country can cross borders that their governments would not dare cross... and, by the power of their spending, create a message with fiscal power to back it.

I should note quickly that I have not been fully swayed--that my first reaction was to think of flower wearing hippies and commies. I have built up such a hate of these two things that the associations are hard to overcome... yet this is the modern business-plan of peace, not the passive ideals of those that waved the peace flag before it. This peace declares firmly that it is one only: "an end to politically organized violence." A new world of possibilities opens up for me just thinking about a free market within a world without war. It is a world worth speaking out for.

...that's right. Hold your horses, fasten your seat-belt, and leave some extra food out for the cat... Give Peace a Deadline will have you sucked in for an awe-inspiring 270pages, pausing only for the frequent "yes!" and "right on!" and "I'M ready!"

Building a bridge from the kindergarten playground, where we believed world-peace is possible, to the silent DREAMERS we are today ... each page reveals the hidden DOER within us all. Otto & Lupton's promise remains true, showing ordinary people "what [one] can do to cause world peace in five years."

Prepare yourself for a 5-year sebbatical from life-on-the-back-burner, as Give Peace a Deadline inspires your heart to skyrocket into action for a world safe from war. Brace yourself to be moved, touched, and inspired. Get ready to read it, love it, sign it, and act on it (literally!).

Give Peace a Deadline is more than just a captivating read, it's a long-overdue PLAN for humanity.