Sometimes Goodwill Is Expensive

When I was young I lived with the idea of my innocence; that is to say, with no idea at all. I'm not the self-tormenting kind of person, and I made a suitable start in life. I brought off everything I set my hand to, I moved at ease in the field of the intellect, I got on excellently with women, and if I had occasional qualms, they passed as lightly as they came. Then one day I started thinking." (Albert Camus, The Plague)

I condemned myself to dancing in Bergen's notorious night life only to come to a full stop. I frantically scraped pen against napkin before the thought left my head. You know, it's a dangerous thing, thinking. I wouldn't blame you for stopping here to preserve a calmer way of looking at things.

Or perhaps you may read and decide not to think about it. Regardless, the choice to read is yours; and the responsibility is mine to write.

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My mission in Oslo is to understand goodwill. What does it mean to be nice to one another? What is peace? The International Summer School seems to be a perfect place to accomplish this task. Our concepts of peace often regard overcoming the tensions inherent to the congress of nations, so if diverse students may cooperate, the world can too. So goes the concept.

Do not misunderstand me. No palpable tensions exist among us at the ISS. Peace would reign supreme here were it not for our unfortunate inheritance. We have not achieved peace.

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In the city of peace I have learned--above all-- one lesson from the example of such leaders as Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi, Jimmy Carter, and Martin Luther King, Jr. It is this: peace is positive and negative. Peace is as much the presence of goodwill as it is the absence of disdain. Peace is as much the presence of compassion as it is the absence of hatred and violence. I repeat we have not achieved peace.

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We have not achieved peace because we have chosen to inherit a system of self-organization which rejects it. Self-organization as sovereign nation-states has ensured greater negative peace (the absence of conflict, should we respect the norm of sovereignty). It has also divided us, the international society, into groups disinterested and apathetic to the cause of compassion and goodwill. I have learned this lesson from the students at the ISS--myself included.

Since meeting each other as international equals with a common identity as students enrolled at ISS, we have devolved into convenient relations. We have prioritized nationality, language, shared interests, and other qualified criteria over the sustenance of a relevant and legitimate single identity. The mutual construction of identities implies the simultaneous creation of organized groups and loyalties. Those loyalties prioritize socialization and inclusion for others who identify with the organized group. That's to be expected, and it should be noted that inclusion does not necessitate exclusion.

Yet there are those who are excluded. They are regarded as independents or lone wolves. How did this happen?

Simply and shockingly, a process of prioritization and loyalty makes it extraordinarily tempting to discriminate. Forming new identities makes differential treatment something valuable and easy to do. We afford ourselves the chance to forget about others simply by making them 'others.' Neglecting a responsibility to ensure social cohesion presents a challenge for peaceful relations.

A shattered mosaic of social identities (in-groups and out-groups) breeds stereotyping, ethnocentrism, pride, and disdain. These attributes are systemic, but they are also attributes which we may choose to reject. The problem is that they make positive peace something quite difficult to achieve.

Here is the place for goodwill and compassion. Recognizing the nature of identity as socially constructed lets us choose to overcome its temptations. We have the opportunity to decide that diversity isn't a legitimate reason not to talk with someone, not to trust someone. We recognize the ever-inclusive human identity and a loyalty to ensure no individual is excluded--purposefully or not. Such is the cause for peace in our time. It is a cry to institute dialogue, teach diplomacy, and foster goodwill among all. It is a call to know one another.

Or at least to pay attention when someone is sitting alone at the lunch table surrounded by distracted voices.