'What does peace mean in a world in which the combined wealth of the world's 587 billionaires exceeds the combined gross domestic product of the world's 135 poorest countries? Or when rich countries that pay farm subsidies of a billion dollars a day, try and force poor countries to drop their subsidies? What does peace mean to people in occupied Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir, Tibet and Chechnya? Or to the aboriginal people of Australia? Or the Ogoni of Nigeria? Or the Kurds in Turkey? Or the Dalits and Adivasis of India?What does peace mean to non-muslims in Islamic countries, or to women in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan? What does it mean to the millions who are being uprooted from their lands by dams and development projects? What does peace mean to the poor who are being actively robbed of their resources and for whom everyday life is a grim battle for water, shelter, survival and, above all, some semblance of dignity? For them, peace is war.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Peace is impossible while extreme wealth inequality and occupation persist across the globe.
- In plain terms
- There is no real peace while the rich take from the poor.
- What can you take from it?
- Economic justice is required for true peace.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What does peace mean to you?
- Is peace possible with inequality?
Another view
Peace can exist locally even amid global inequality or conflict.
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