Magazine
Possibility: Where peace begins
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 Every time I enter my health-club in California, I’m greeted by a sign: “Change begins within.” We all know the truth of this: non-violence has to start in imagination or vision or conscience. Peaceful action seldom arises from a scattered or Read More...
Possibility: These carrots have been murdered
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 In the fanciful Roald Dahl story, “The Sound Machine,” a man invents a device that can modify the sounds made by plants to a bandwidth that humans can hear. Listening through it, he learns that his neighbor’s rosebushes shriek each time she Read More...
Possibility: Living walls
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 Big cats are in crisis throughout Africa. According to some estimates the lion population has gone down by 80 percent in the past 20 years as much of their historical habitat has been converted into farmland for expanding human populations. As a Read More...
Ode to Raw Tools, Colorado Springs, United States
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 Swords into plowshares Gun violence is painful problem in the U.S. Each year some 12,000 people die in homicides—more than 30 every day. A double amount of people commit suicide. Would that be different with different gun laws? Statistics from Read More...
Mixing colors
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 How co-creation makes the world of business a better place for everyone. By Jurriaan Kamp Business creates stress. Just look at the faces in the street during rush hour in big cities. Employees are struggling to cope with daily schedules and Read More...
Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 Sharing the peace in our hearts. By Arun Gandhi The salt march On March 12, 1930, Mohandas Gandhi, then 61, left his ashram with a group of 78 volunteers and set out for the sea. His destination was the village of Dandi, 241 miles to the south. Read More...
A cry for truth
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 The work of reconciliation can only begin when you first hear the cry of pain and injustice. By Allan Boesak Allan Boesak: “Reconciliation is not possible without acknowledging the causes of the alienation.” Her name is Nomonde Calata. She Read More...
The most hopeful courtroom in the world
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Winter 2017 It sounds unbelievable: a court where citizens can bring complaints against their own governments. But that’s just what happens at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Can thissuccess story be repeated on a global Read More...
Pathways to an inclusive society
From The Intelligent Optimist Winter 2017 Too many people feel left behind. Their frustrations stand in the way of a peaceful, nonviolent society. Can we revitalize government—the way we run society—so that more people feel included? By Jurriaan Kamp and Nancy Reed When our children were Read More...
Our enemies also have pain
From The Intelligent Optimist Winter 2017 All religions advocate the Golden Rule—Never treat others as you would not like to be treated yourself. Only when learn to implement this rule—24 hours a day—there can be a viable world. By Karen Armstrong All the great religious traditions of our Read More...