A very well regarded Internet marketing guru Eban Pegan is promoting a book on Peace.  I posted a comment on his post which so far has been ignored and not posted on his commentary section . I guess my dissenting commentary was simply ignored and not thrown into the discussion with all the others who were enamored by the idea of peace in just 5 years.

My commentary was as follows. (By the way it is always a good idea when you are a blogger and you should be , to copy any comments that you might post just for this reason. You spent the time to comment, thus it should be posted. It also gives you a reason to expand on your thought process on your own blog.) The commentary:

I do appreciate this cause and the intent I really do. However, I think it often is just us imposing our values on others in another way.

Forgive my skepticism on any of these causes but when most of us cannot even get along with our spouses (50+% divorce rate) seriously are we qualified to impose our path to peace on someone else, in some other part of the world?

In fact, a large trend in the U.S. are couples,  coupling or moving in with one another rather than marrying, having given up on the hope of a long term relationship/commitment all together.

When there is a good chunk of our citizens in the U.S. smoking crack, and addicted to meth as their path to peace, how good are we at this peace thing?

Lets look in the mirror before we impose kumbaya on someone else. As the  Good book says it starts with us. Which starts within, which flows to our family and larger communities.  Let’s work on smiling and engaging one another at home and in elevators. Then maybe we will indeed be an example.

It reminds me of some of my B School Profs who sounded great, but haven’t worked in the private sector for years, if ever. I cannot help but think that other Countries laugh at such things and say, “Healer heal thy self. ” I do not need to read a book or listen to 45 minutes on how to love. I just need to do it. And it is in that choice is where most of us fall off the wagon.

The Mirror Speaks

So when my “piece on peace” was ignored by the Eban Pegan blog. I thought it was a chance to expand on the subject. Love is indeed a choice. How many times have you heard of a person leaving their spouse because, “they did not make me happy?”

WHAT?! Whine whine whine. Whose fault is it that you are, or are not happy?

I remember a priest who once answered the question on whether or not he was “saved” (saved being the act that an individual has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior).  He said “no, he was not saved and that in fact he must carry the Cross daily”. Probably the most Christianity I ever learned with so little said.

Join our Club

Everyone, wants us to join their club. Republicans. Democrats. Conservative. Liberal. Muslim, Christian. Catholic, Greek Orthodox. 7th Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses. Give Peace a Chance? That’s great but on what team do I play in order to give it a chance?  😉 And no doubt the process changes depending on whose and what team I join.

As people we want to label everything. It is quite natural but also how we get played because often by joining we then get to point at others as simply uninformed.

Enjoy Rachel Madow as she enhances the meme of Corporate Greed.

Hmm. I wonder if GE was grilled but I digress. (GE employs Madow)

Perhaps the biggest pointing fest our Country has seen lately is the blame the housing mess on_____ (fill in your most hated entity.) Instead of the obvious which is it is every-one’s fault. But let’s keep pointing because then I do not have to worry about that stupid loan I got. And of course our political heroes are only too happy to remind us that it “just ain’t your fault, vote for me!”

When Marketing Solves World Drama

I find it interesting that a marketer of Eban’s capability has shown the guts to take on something so large. One has got to have a huge ego to do so. And I do not think that is a bad thing as it is no doubt a large reason for his success.

We satisfy our endless needs and
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny
and the name of God

And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it’s like up there
They call it paradise
I don’t know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye  ~Don Henley , The Eagles

However, pushing Peace is not simply a mind set that can be easily packaged. It is very individual and  like the Priest’s Cross it is by daily choice.  And we simply do not have the ethos to get the fear that many live by in some parts of our Country and the rest of the world. People must be empowered so that they can chose to love and go beyond The crap heap of Maslows basic needs. Because the criminals and angels of our society often share similar intent.  Safety, security, love, etc. They just chose radically unique paths to achieve such “peace”. Much like religions and political figures do.

So I believe it would have been more useful for Eban to:

A. to allow my somewhat dissenting commentary  (after all if he is going to offer comments then at least let all reasonable commentary) and then answer it since he is coming from a place of Authority on Peace.

B. More importantly, I think someone of his stature could offer a much stronger and credible discussion on the subject without the distraction of a sale. With his friends and connections he could pull in many more players on the subject instead of appearing like a typical Internet Guru promotion to get someone’s book to rise in Amazon.

Unfortunately, in our quick fix Tylenol society everything must be packaged because there is always The New Secret to Peace; 53 Ways to a More Peaceful You; The Peace Hexagram: The Them, The You and the Bliss; The Tao of The Trinity; The Peace Gene, & Finding Your Personal Bliss at the Local Strip Club .

Furthermore, declaring the cause is easy and non committal. Seeking the cause and more importantly living it is much more impressive. Again, can we first get along with our wives and future crack head kids before we say we have Found the Way? (just for the record my wife is awesome and my kids are amazing future contributors to society!)

This is much too dangerous a game to try and play our quick fix psychology on a world not interested in just another packaged by product of American Culture.  And in my most humble opinion it is this arrogance that no doubt (at least in some way)fuels the fire.