What can be done?

Fortunately, massive aid is beginning to arrive in Haiti. Local police, foreign troops coming in, and everyone there who can do so, should try to recruit every able-bodied Haitian to join the clean-up, road clearing, rescuing the trapped, burying of bodies, and the distribution of relief supplies, People carrying weapons should be offered the chance to turn in their weapons in return for priority in receiving food and water, except that the helpless, sick, and injured should have top priority. Police could give receipts for weapons that can be reclaimed once reasonable order has been restored. The main thing is to get these obviously fit individuals mobilized into helping instead of threatening or carrying out violence.

I would like to see your suggestions. The thought of people surviving the earthquake only to be killed by some desperate people with deadly weapons, is appalling.

Chapter 11: Be At Peace With Yourself and Everyone in Your Life, doesn't just get close to home. It gets inside your home and beneath your skin, into your brain and heart. I'm a doctor, so I know about those things.

How can you hope to be effective at helping your own neighbors, your neighborhood, your friends, your co-workers and everyone in your life to be at peace with themselves and with you, if you are not even at peace with yourself? That's where it has to start. Each of us needs to appreciate and love ourselves so that we have the emotional health and wealth to appreciate and love others.

Many readers of The Peace Prescription tell me that Chapter 11 is their favorite chapter. It gets very personal, but it strives to give the best guidance and real support in the direction of inner peace that can shine through to cast its light on all those in our lives.

If you, or people you care about, are going through persistent and serious stress that threatens to end a marriage or other romantic relationship, or to keep that relationship from being peaceful and satisfying, read or tell them about Chapter 11. There, on pages 117 and 118, I describe a 45-minute session that a couple can use to get their relationship headed in a much better direction. Two pages. 45 minutes. Not even a whole hour. Doesn't cost anything, except a few bucks for the book. Compare that to the emotional and financial cost of divorce, even when there are no children to be affected.

Basically, the two people meet privately for about 45 minutes without interruption, and exchange lists of the things they like best and the things they most dislike about each other. The lists are discussed item by item. It works! No therapists. No lawyers. No divorce needed.

Then there is the rest of the book, showing how violence and war can be prevented by dealing effectively with beliefs and behaviors that lead to violence and war beyond our own homes and most intimate  and loving relationships.

For example, were you at a party, at work, or anywhere, when you heard someone speak hatefully about all of the members of some race, religion, or nationality? Did the person say that all of them should be killed?

Dr. Marshall wants to immunize the world against war - in fact he wants to eliminate all wars.  This is the stated purpose of his recently published book, The Peace Prescription: Five Key Steps We Can Take to Prevent Wars.  War must be defined, he argues, so that men can quickly recognize and take seriously all acts of violence.  Marshall argues the importance of resolving alleged injustices as quickly as possible before they can escalate to war-making. 

In the first part of the book the author identifies the causes of violence and war and provides a short historical analysis of their causes. Dr. Marshall argues that the common denominator of all murder, violence, subjugation, and destruction is abnormal human behavior.  These are insights derived from his years of counseling people as a physician of psychiatric medicine. 

In the second part of the book, Dr. Marshall offers a five step prescription for eliminating both war and violence.  The author’s five step prescription program begins with what he proposes as the Peace Law, a written statute that prohibits the initiation of violence.  The Peace Law and the steps that follow it all seek to enforce decent human behavior.  He allows that sometimes small wars are necessary to prevent larger wars but he also reminds us that reality is socially created, that our beliefs inform our actions and our actions create our universe.  He awakens us to remember that we can change our beliefs and thus our actions.  Marshall believes in the possibility for a gradual elimination of war and he has faith in the role of behavior modification.  The author believes that with the right preventative care, wars can be thwarted just as illnesses can be avoided.

The Peace Prescription is a thoughtful critique of power, greed, and exploitation and one that questions the soundness of nationalism, patriotism, and the death penalty.  Marshall reviews the principles and spirituality of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, reminding us of their similarities, noting as well that all religions embrace and promote the practice of peace.  In addition to his discussion of religion, the author weaves into his narrative ancient parables as well as excerpts of speeches from peace-seeking men such as Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Marshall’s alternatives to war and violence follow, in the tradition of Zen Buddhism, a practice that promotes an awareness of one’s lifestyle, one that encourages meditative reflection, and one that emphasizes the importance of living peace.  As the great Zen master, Thich Hhat Hanh, has written it is crucial to remember that if the means is peace then the ends will be peace.  Likewise, Dr. Marshall reminds us that we must take responsibility for what we do and for the choices we make. The means always become the ends.

Dr. Marshall’s purpose is to start a worldwide peace movement.  He offers clear realistic solutions to many of the social maladies we wrestle with.  In fact, what makes this book different from mere academic analysis is that Marshall gives practical suggestions on how things can be changed.  His prescription is person-to-person, a grass-roots, bottom-up strategy rather than a top-down, government-to-government remedy to the perplexing problems of contemporary society. The Peace Prescription is a critique of modern life and a proposal for a more humane and livable world.  The book is both critical and compassionate and offers intelligent and creative alternatives to the destructive patterns of contemporary society. 

While a bit repetitious and didactic, the book is a welcome addition to the literature on conflict resolution.  The book is a must read for every global citizen who deeply cares about humanity and wants to seek compassionate solutions to contemporary problems.  The book is relevant to students and educators.  It is engaging and intellectually stimulating.

Dr. Kim's review:

The Peace Prescription by Dr. Edward Marshall challenges the reader to think non-traditionally and intuitively about a question that has haunted most of humanity since the beginning of civilization. The goal of this book is less to end all wars than it is to present a prescriptive strategy for reducing all “warlike activity” (54). In essence, it is, as stated by the author himself, “intended to be the beginning of the end of all wars forever.”  

The book is worth picking up because the intention is noble in and of itself. The author’s argument and his “Five Steps” are worth considering given that he presents us with a clear roadmap instead of lofty intellectual argument as to why we should even consider eradication of violence. I give big kudos to the author for having the courage to begin this important discourse set in, what I believe to be, the right path. In doing so, the author may not win many supporters. His argument in the book will especially rub

the realists of the world in the wrong way. His “Five Steps” are also not likely to have much traction among advocates of cultural relativism, national sovereignty, and political order. Nonetheless, the book does ask an important question: how do we begin to end the never-ending cycle of violence, which plagues our society? The prescription is laid out in the second part of the book. Although the author is a medical doctor by training, his understanding and depth of knowledge spanning the statistical facts, history, and various religions (including the Koran), makes for a fascinating read.  

I cannot say that I would agree with all of the claims made by the author; nonetheless, I do think that the question being asked and answered in this book is very important and somehow our society must begin to address it. We need not look too far to find the hundreds of non-government, government, and intergovernmental organizations devoting significant resources to report on acts of violence all around the world. The reports and the statistics do not seem to end. When I teach my students about political

violence in the world, I find myself not being able to do more than simply state the harsh reality of the million deaths, rapes, maiming, and tortures. The question of what to do about this problem is less than easy to answer. Yet, The Peace Prescription presents an interesting approach and one I can share with others to begin the important discussion about ending this grim reality. 

Overall, I thought the format and editorial in the book was nicely executed. I found little grammar or spelling errors but I did think the use of single page for quotes was a little distracting to the reader. As far as the overall style of the writing is concerned, I thought it was fairly easy to follow. I enjoyed its colloquial flow and avoidance of academic jargons. 

I applaud both Dr. Marshall and Grassroots Press for having the courage and the will to provide an important starting point to begin the discourse about winning the peace. In my eyes, The Peace Prescription has successfully done its job in setting the discussion on the right path – towards peace. 

As you can see, when professional academics review your book, it's a bit like having your term paper graded. Neither of these Professors accuse me of perfection, but I'm so pleased that they seem to have an overall favorable impression. They deserve thanks and praise for their courage shown just by taking my book seriously enough to review it. They could have said, "Who's he? These ideas are not the usual things we read. What will my colleagues think of me if I review this book? Forget it!" But, no, they had the fortitude to go forward, and I am grateful.

These criticisms may have some validity, and if emergency response to horrendous evolving events on college campuses can be improved, by all means those improvements should be done. 

But, let's get real here! A crazed student determined to kill as many students and faculty as he could was already on the campus firing weapons and killing people. At that point prevention was out of the question, Even the most level-headed, efficient response would not have been likely to save anyone's life that day. And, if I'm wrong, and some lives could have been saved, then let's pay attention to how things should have been handled better and could be handled better if, God forbid, similar events were to occur in the future on that or any campus. Still, all of this is missing the most important issue of all about the Virginia Tech massacre and all other such events, such as Columbine High School, and more recently, Fort Hood.

Doesn't anyone care that the entire massacre could have been prevented? The killer's English professor, a lady who also happened to be Dean at Virginia Tech, knew, more than one year before the massacre, that the student who later did all the killings was a dangerous person. As his English professor, she had read writings by this student that suggested a serious threat to public safety. She knew that something should be done about him. She went to faculty members, to meetings of university officials more than once, and to the local police. Everyone agreed and told her that nothing could be done because the killer had not yet killed anyone.

This is outrageous! In California there is a law that a psychiatrist can go before a judge and request a 3-day psychiatric hospitalization for evaluation of a person deemed to be an imminent threat to the lives of others or themselves. The "hold" can be lengthened by the court to a total of 14 days at a second hearing after the three days. That California law is good, but not good enough. It should be the law in all states and all countries that anyone reasonably thought to be a serious threat to public safety can be evaluated, voluntarily or not, medically and psychologically to evaluate the severity and likelihood of the threat to public safety that such persons represent. This law, which I call the Peace Law in my recently published book The Peace Prescription, should allow a court to order not only the evaluation, but the treatment and even detention, when necessary, of such persons for public safety reasons.

How can we continue to allow massacres of innocent people by crazed persons who are already known to have threatened to murder others or who have made verbal and/or written statements that indicate the likelihood of such behavior?

Violence by an individual is certainly a form of war. What if such a murderer could obtain a nuclear weapon? There is no level of violence or war that we should tolerate. That means you and I have to take a stand for the Peace Law, or be satisfied with continued massacres on and on into the future. You, I, our families, our dear ones, our friends, could be the victims of such completely preventable murders. Will some murders occur anyway? No doubt. Let's reduce the number to as close to zero as we can get.

I should probably be asking easier questions, but I love a challenge, and maybe you do, too. So, let's tackle these tough ones.

If you think a large bomb is about to go off within a few feet of where you are, in just a few seconds, what will you do? You'll get out of there very quickly, unless you want to die, right? You would do that whether or not a bomb then really explodes or not. Your belief determines your behavior. Likewise, if you're convinced that no bomb is going to detonate near you at any time soon, you will more likely remain where you are if you have no other reason to move. That would be true even if the bomb really is about to blow you to bits.

This example is important, because it shows the ;power of our beliefs, regardless of the consequences. And, our beliefs change. Suppose someone opens up the suspicious package that supposedly held a bomb, and you learn that there was no bomb there.  You now have a new belief that allows you to return to the spot you had left so hastily. Of course, there could still be a bomb nearby, but you don't believe it at the moment, so you're willing to return.

Why does a child become a bully? Maybe they experienced taking a toy away from another child who had not wanted to share the toy. And, there was no punishment by a parent or teacher, and the other child may have cried, but there were no consequences for our bully-to-be. Now the young bully has learned that you can just grab what you want. Maybe another young bully learned that behavior by watching one of his parents bully the other parent. The bully comes to believe that ruling by intimidation or force works. 

Another child who took away a toy, and who was quickly admonished by a parent or teacher who took back the toy and returned it to the victim, has developed other beliefs: It's better to figure out how to share toys with others; just grabbing them isn't going to work.

As for stress management, there are both healthy and unhealthy ways. Some people find that use of certain substances is soothing, whether drugs, alcohol, food, or tobacco. The stress is temporarily reduced for them, and they come to believe that they need such substances for relief. There are other beliefs that make the usage continue: Nothing else will help; others may get into trouble using these substances, but I won't; and so forth. Others try healthier methods that work for them, and they come to believe that they have no need for substances for stress management. As a physician I saw hundreds of people change their beliefs, and by so doing, their behaviors and habits, and therefore, their results changed. If you strongly believe that cigarettes are going to kill you, it makes it hard to smoke, unless you have a death wish. If you believe that cigarettes are not that harmful, or that they may harm some people, but certainly will not seriously harm or kill you, then you are free, based on that belief, to continue smoking, and probably will. You can pick and choose your beliefs, and whatever belief you genuinely hold at a particular moment, will determine what you do at that moment.

Regarding the Catholics and Protestants of Northern Ireland, there is still occasional bloodshed, but nothing compared to what had been going on for centuries. The vast majority of both groups now live in peace and have a working governmental partnership going. It was worked out with the help of President Clinton and other third parties, and was based on a growing belief by the Northern Ireland people that there had to be a better way to go other than continuous killings on both sides. There was tremendous bargaining, negotiating, and deal making. All involved deserve tremendous credit.

Is there a guarantee that the peace will last? No, because one murderous outburst by a tiny minority on either side, could resume the vicious circle of revenge killings back and forth on both sides.  General peace can last, after such an episode, if both sides hold to their belief that the best way to show respect for the dead is by making efforts to apprehend and punish the guilty parties, while generally reaffirming the need to keep the peace, and while avoiding random revenge killings which will simply reignite the conflict.

Continued peace activism on both sides will be necessary in Northern Ireland for the indefinite future if general peace is to be maintained there.

And now you know what it will take for the Israelis and Palestinians to make peace. Bargaining, negotiating, and deal making, all based on the belief that never-ending waves of revenge and retribution on both sides are totally useless and destructive. And, based on the belief that the best way to show respect for the dead is to do the hard bargaining, negotiating, and deal making in order to generally bring peace to the area. Both sides should understand and believe by now, that there will never be an ultimate, final military victory for either side. There can only be endless bloodshed, or there can be peaceful resolution. Should be an easy choice.  First we must have the beliefs that work well, and those beliefs will cause the behaviors that will give the best results.

Do you believe it? If so, share those beliefs, pass it on. It makes a difference what YOU say and what YOU do.

And, I don't for a minute believe that it's just "my" message. Probably 95% or more of all people do not seriously want to, or intend to, personally kill, or commit violence upon, anyone. Nor do they want to be killed or injured by anyone. Just as certainly, none of us want to see the ones we love and care about get killed or injured.

So, tomorrow, Sunday, November 15 at 11AM PST, I will go "On the Air" via the Internet. It will be my first Internet talk show, on BlogTalkRadio.com, and it will be a 30-minute show. Go to that site a few minutes before 11 if you want to catch it. I hope you will, and I hope you will call in with questions or comments. When you click on my show, called "Dr. Ed Marshall", you will see a call-in phone number, or you can just listen. If you have a speaker or speakers attached to your computer, you'll have no problem hearing the show. Just use your telephone if you want to call in.

The subject will be, of course, the prevention of massacres such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, 9/11, and Ft. Hood. We, the vast majority of non-violent people, can manage the violence of the minority if we go at it like we mean it.

Some future shows will be on other subjects, such as how you can have any new habits or behaviors you want, to replace the ones you don't want. We will deal with subjects such as weight management, alcohol and drug problems, and relationship issues (look out, Dr. Laura and Dr. Phil, here I come!).

Still other shows will deal with how all of us at the grass roots can help solve the problems of education, health care, crime and drugs, and other social issues in America, in ways that not only do not require big government spending, bureaucracies, new taxes and deficits, these solutions will actually reduce both costs and suffering.

You might call it "Problem-Solving Radio". That is my intention, and it can't be done without you and many others out there.

Yet nothing was done to stop him. He was not detained for questioning. He was allowed to kill and maim innocent victims. Why?

For one thing, the US Army, and the government bend over backwards to avoid appearing to be anti-Muslim. Up to a point, the Army and our government should not oppose any religion or its members so long as neither poses a serious threat of initiating violence. But freedom of religion is not a legalization of murder for those who claim to be murdering in observance of a religion. The truth is, the Koran urges vigorous self-defense for those attacked and prevented from practicing their religion, but there is no other advocacy or approval of violence.

It is the radical jihadists who murder and advocate murder who are to blame for the Muslim religion being viewed with suspicion and even opposition by much of the world's population in recent years. The religion itself is not to blame. The vast majority of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims are not murderers and have no intention of killing except in obvious and immediate self-defense. Even some former radical jihadists have become activists in exposing the improper, anti-Koran, and anti-Muhammad teachings of the radicals, as discussed in The Peace Prescription.

A second reason that the Ft. Hood massacre was allowed to occur is that the Peace Law is not yet the law in the United States, or, to a proper extent, anywhere in the world. Advocating murder, war, and destruction, and joining with such advocates, are not yet against the law. It leaves people like the Ft. Hood murderer free to communicate with fellow assassins and murder advocates, and to carefully plan and carry out violence.

We need the Peace Law, as fully explained in The Peace Prescription. Under that Law, any person who seriously advocates violence would be subject to arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment.  The Peace Law will make it difficult for people to organize for violence and war. Any person who can be identified as a significant, real threat to public safety could, by court order, be detained for a limited time frame, such as three days, for medical, psychological, and forensic evaluation. The courts would then decide what needs to be done as a matter of justice and to guard public safety, following such evaluation. Do we have the right to prevent murder? I think any answer other than "Yes!" borders on suicidal insanity for us as individuals and as a society.

Does the safety of you, your family, and those you care about, interest you? Then begin small steps: Speak up for the Peace Law to people you know; contact public officials with letters, phone calls and emails. Refer people to The Peace Prescription book and this Blog site. 

Let's be active in the quest to lessen the chances of events such as the Ft. Hood massacre from happening in the future. It will take time, perhaps a generation, to develop a peace maintenance environment. And, that's only if WE begin that process. If we wait for others, the government, politicians, international organizations, we will wait forever. It's you and me, and everyone we know, or don't count on it ever happening.

It does make a difference what you SAY and what you DO. Please don't hesitate to post your comments about this or any of these blogs.

The Peace Prescription ("TPP") book sales were slow in the first month on the market, for two reasons: 

1) Self-published books are not automatically available in the big chain bookstores such as Barnes & Noble, and Borders, because, understandably, the books first have to be scrutinized by the central offices of those chain stores, whereas books from big publishers are readily accepted. The problem is that many thousands of new books are published every day, so it takes a few months for the process to happen.

2) My name, as the author, is not famous - not yet , and it always takes time to build name-recognition.

Meanwhile, TPP is available: On this website; from Amazon - including as an e-book for Amazon's Kindle owners; and on BarnesandNoble.com. Ingram, one of the largest book distributors in the world, has recently begun acting as a distributor for TPP.

A lot more is pending.

If you are interested in promoting peace and defeating violence and war, here is how you can help: 

You can call your local Barnes & Noble or Borders stores and ask them if they have TPP in stock, and if they say "No" (which will surely change to "Yes" within a few weeks or months), you can ask if you would be able to order a copy of TPP from them.  Even if they say you can do so, you're not obligated to place an order, of course. Meanwhile, your calls may do some good when the local managers are finally allowed to order the book for their stores to put them on their shelves. If you have read the book, and you purchased it from Amazon, you can post a review on Amazon. And of course, you can tell the people in your life about the book that aims to "immunize" the world against violence and war to the maximum possible extent.

One more thing: If you have personal contacts such as reporters, book reviewers, or other media people, especially people connected with talk shows, it would be great if you mention TPP and me to your contacts, and then refer me to them, or them to me.

My plan is to plow all net book sales proceeds back into promoting the book and the cause of peace and non-violence in every way that I can. All campaigns for worthy causes cost money, so TPP book sales can help reduce violence. Thank you in advance for being a part of the solution. Let's get the job done in one generation or less!

There are often clues that violence is imminent, probable, or likely. We don't yet have all the facts for Ft. Hood and Orlando. We will no doubt learn more about these two who committed those killings in the past couple of days. But, from our experience we know that people who lack sufficient self-esteem, or self-love, and who have become pre-occupied with hateful feelings and thoughts, often write or talk about their extreme and violent thoughts, usually many days, months, or even years before they actually kill.

We, communities, society, all need systems to allow preventive measures to be taken when there are clues pointing to imminent, probable, or likely violent behavior. Yes, restraining orders are issued against people who have stalked or threatened individuals. But, these orders are often ignored, and people get murdered anyway. Rarely is any therapy ordered by the courts, with reports by therapists to be turned in to the courts so that judges can decide on whether detention for more serious treatment, or even detention to save threatened lives, is necessary. People who openly and seriously advocate the initiation of violence in any form, murder, or war, should be subject to arrest, trial, and imprisonment if convicted. We put people in jails and prisons for having a few ounces of an illegal drug in their possession, but those same persons can seriously proclaim the intention of killing many people tomorrow, yet will not be subject to arrest unless and until they actually do the killings.

The Peace Law that I recommend in The Peace Prescription would change all of that. But that change will not happen, and countless lives will not be saved, unless thousands of people get involved to make the Peace Law into reality in the United States and around the world. You can express support for the Peace Law to your family, fellow students, co-workers, and everyone you know. You can write or phone your elected representatives, if you live in a democracy. Or, you can do nothing but just read the headlines and listen to, or watch, news reports of killings upon killings, violence after violence, wars upon wars. Or, perhaps you and those you care about will become the victims, and others who still survive, will get those reports of the violence perpetrated against you and yours. We all have the choice: Be pro-active to get good results, or live with the consequences of not doing so.

You, and everyone you know has the choice to get involved in immunizing your community and the world against violence and war, by means of the Peace Law and all the other steps of the Five Key Steps  needed to make that happen. What you SAY and DO does make a difference. We can all be uninvolved and inactive after we're dead. I guess we can pretend to be dead now, when we're supposedly still alive, if that's our choice, and not get involved to end, or at least markedly reduce, violent behavior. There are lots of excuses at our disposal: We're too busy. It's too hard to do. Lao Tsu said it best: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Speak up. Pass it on. Do good, feel great about it,  and be proud when you look in the mirror.