The World Has Become More Peaceful

It is easy to become caught up in thinking that everything in the world is getting worse, but there are situations which are actually getting better. My daughter shared the following with me recently, and I feel compelled to pass it along. This is excerpted from the revised and expanded edition of "Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia" by Rob Brezsny.

"In 2005, the Human Security Report presented detailed proof that the world has become dramatically more peaceful since the end of the Cold War. It said that the number of violent conflicts has declined by 40 percent, while acts of genocide have dropped by 80 percent. Weapons sales between countries have diminished 33 percent during the same time, and the number of refugees has fallen by 45 percent. Meanwhile, coups d'etat have decreased 60 percent since 1963, and the number of soldiers killed in battle has declined from an average of 38,000 per war in 1950 to 600 in 2002. . . .

"One of the primary causes of the plunge in violence, according to the Human Security Report, is the unprecedented upsurge of international peace activism, much of it spearheaded by the United Nations. Other factors it cites include the acceleration of democratization and the steep downswing of global poverty.

"The main study was released in 2005, with updates issued in 2007 and 2008. Among the most recent findings: Deaths caused by terrorism have decreased 40 percent; support for al-Qaeda in the Arab world has diminished precipitously; and the number of wars in sub-Saharan Africa was cut in half between 1999 and 2006, while fatalities from those conflicts dropped 98 percent."

It is important to concentrate on the good in the world, rather than making ourselves upset by thinking about evil. And I love to consider the idea of pronoia, thinking that the universe is out to help us. It's much better for our health, if nothing else, than stressing out about everything that "might" go wrong.

Paul writes in Philippians 4:8-9, ". . . whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and see in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Let us find peace by dwelling on peace and continuing to promote peace everywhere. There's a lot of good news out there -- we usually don't even have to look too far to find it.