To Young Leaders of Tomorrow—You Will See Global Peace in your Lifetime if You Start Today
Throughout the course of my research, I have found several things
about Desmond Tutu’s philosophy to be relevant for my peer group of
young people in their late teens and early twenties in 2013. At a young
age Desmond Tutu discovered the term and philosophy of Ubuntu,
which essentially describes the relations we have with each other.
Desmond Tutu applied this philosophy to his work later in life when he
had to choose between revenge or restorative justice when he was
affiliated with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
on the issue of apartheid in South Africa. Desmond Tutu saw revenge as
the “natural reaction,” but knew from his experience with conflict
resolution at that time, and from the philosophy of Ubuntu that very simply, two wrongs do not make a right, and it is better to act more morally and with justice than it is to just take revenge.
Everything that Desmond Tutu has expressed in his life as an activist
for global peace is relevant to young people today. Even though it
seems that our world is filled with people just resorting to violence
every day without any logic, there are still many good people striving
to make the world a better place for all. At times it seems that
violent reactions happen for the sole purpose of making perpetrators
look superior in some way within peer groups or certain communities.
Violence may also be chosen as the easy way out for some because they
have not learned how to express their thoughts and emotions in a
civilized manner.
Many
people around the world have become accustomed to “immediate
gratification.” Negotiation, whether within the family, between
friends, among citizens in a given community or among nations, takes
time and patience. At the top level of government that effort is called
diplomacy, and fewer and fewer officials in governments around the
world seem to choose sticking with the path of diplomacy, opting instead
for the “instant violent conflict” solution. It is for that very
reason that all people must learn how to resolve conflict within
themselves and among others in a non-violent way.
In
a time like this, it is best to reflect on Desmond Tutu’s philosophy to
not only strengthen the relationships we have with each other, but make
this world a better place to live in by valuing human life above all
else. These recent outbreaks of violence we hear about every day on the
News are appalling, and they call out to all of us to apply the wisdom
and philosophy which aided Desmond Tutu to succeed in his role within
the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa.We see much too much of the violent ways conflicts are handled, but we almost never see the stories about successful acts of nonviolent conflict resolution led by prominent figures as well as their many followers who apply nonviolence to their everyday lives. There is no sense of balance in the messages we receive about how people handle conflict. Sure, we learn about great nonviolent leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu in textbooks, but we seldom ever really learn how to apply those acts and beliefs in our own daily lives.
Desmond
Tutu did what only a few others would have done which solidified his
acts of peace. There are good people in this world and everything they
do is pertinent to what prominent figures have done as well, and we
should hear more about the efforts of those people. Let us seek out
Desmond Tutu’s philosophy of Ubuntu which will ensure that we become
champions of nonviolent conflict resolution. What Desmond Tutu has set
forth to do—to make global peace a reality—is based on the idea of
learning from birth from the family into which we are born and raised to
see others as we see ourselves, which subsequently leads to more right than wrong.
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