The article "Working for Peace" was extremely intriguing in the way it provided a philosophy or rather a practice that can be implemented in every day life. How the little things in life can be treated with care and compassion. I also really like the way Nhat Hanh says that often times, the context people grow up in creates a certain type of lifestyle, and until a person opens up to the idea that anyone could have turned into a Thai pirate had they had the same upbrining. “I saw that if I had been born in the village of the pirate and raised in the same conditions as he was, I am now the pirate. There is a great likelihood that I would become a pirate.” He further elaborates on how we can’t simply eliminate the pirates by violence because this would put the blame onto us.
I also really like how Nhat Hanh explains the interconnectedness of the world and the economy. For example, “For instance, when you eat a piece of bread, you may choose to be aware that our farmers, in growing the wheat, use chemical poisons a little too much. Eating the bread, we are somehow co-responsible for the destruction of our ecology.” Is this indirect violence to ourselves and others by not informing them? I feel that point of view may be a little extreme, but the question is where to draw the line.
