Conflict as a Means for Progress: Why 'Keeping the Peace' Doesn't Always Help

The topic of peace, progress, and conflict is difficult and multifaceted. Of course, it is important to stand up for what you believe to be right, but this is also the root of so many causes of conflict (because people have differing opinions of what is ‘right’). In the world today, peace is an ideal - sadly, it is not a reality, and whilst we should all try to stand up for what we think is right, it is not always safe to do so.

The Bigger Picture

Many countries have laws protecting rights to freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of speech. The idea is that these rights should be exercised peacefully, and by exercising them, others should not come to any harm. It must be said that a lot of modern progress has stemmed from marches and protests.

Without protest, and the resulting conflicts, there are many social issues that would not have been resolved by now (some key movements that come to mind are Black Lives Matter, Stonewall, and the Suffragettes), and protests are still a key part of facilitating change in the world regarding issues that are still not resolved (for example protests against the war in Ukraine and the current protests taking place in Iran regarding rights for women). In many cases, such as the case in Iran, there have been disproportionate responses from the authorities to peaceful protests, causing escalations to violence and ‘protests’ becoming framed as ‘riots’. Then, people opposing the protests can use the ‘rioters’ violence to try to discredit the entire cause.

There are honestly too many issues in the world right now to protest all of them, and honestly, sometimes I feel too small to do anything about them. Sometimes marches and protests aren’t the way forward anyway. Whilst a lot of protests are necessary and, of course, justified, I do take issue with movements that utilise the disruption of emergency services to further their cause, especially when it comes to preventing the efficient movement of ambulances. A protest should not cause innocent people to suffer – there must be better ways out there. Also, if I went to every single protest for causes I felt passionately about I’d have no time to do anything else – people are remarkably active in relation to a wide variety of issues (environmental damage, racism, homophobia, sexism) and that is truly laudable, but we have a limited amount of time and we also have a responsibility to ourselves to not become burnt out.

The Personal Picture

Have you ever been at a family dinner or in the workplace when someone has said something distasteful but you’ve been told to keep quiet to keep the peace? I know I have. A desire for peace should not overshadow the desire for progress and equality, and yes this can be applied to protests, but also in everyday life. My intention with this article is not to suggest that people reading this should drop everything and go out and put themselves at risk by attending protests, or fight random strangers in the streets if they have a different viewpoint. But, here are some things that I’ve been trying to do to make the world a better place, without necessarily attending protests:

1) Supporting minority run businesses, local businesses, or businesses that align with my values. This may be more expensive than supporting the Capitalist Machine that is Amazon, and sometimes I do need to revert to Amazon when I can’t find something, or if I need something urgently and can’t afford more expensive versions of it. Not only is this a great way to support other communities (instead of putting money into the bank of the big corporation bosses), but I also love to see the different products, designs and services that smaller businesses can offer – they’re much more unique than the mass-produced stuff you can get from larger companies.

2) I am trying to educate myself by following minority creators on social media and diversifying my consumption of media to include more people of colour and queer people’s work. Again, this both supports minority creators but has also given me a lot to think about by providing me with a different perspective to the ones I am used to and has really raised awareness of many causes I previously had little knowledge about.

3) I am working on making differences where I can – I try to pick up trash when I see it, turn off the lights more, and consume less meat, as well as cycling, walking and using public transport more, and not consuming as much plastic or fast fashion.

4) I don’t try to keep the peace – if I hear someone saying something sexist, racist, or homophobic, I try to speak up and say something. ‘Locker room talk’ and inappropriate jokes make people feel like crap and add to a societal acceptance of derogatory language and disrespectful attitudes. I’m not always successful on this front, I’m not always brave enough to confront people about their out-of-date attitudes, but I’m doing my best!

5) Voting! So many of us have the ability and right to vote, by exercising it we can help to make the world a better place.

The Goal

Peace shouldn’t be the goal – things stagnate in peace. Progress should be. Keeping the peace is keeping the status quo, and that’s not always a good thing. Maybe protests aren’t your thing, but don’t keep the peace for the sake of it. Of course, safety comes first and I’m not suggesting anyone puts themselves at risk for the sake of it, but I’ve had enough of ‘keeping the peace’ at the dinner table. I’ve found that sitting on feelings, instead of having a reasonable discussion about them, causes them to spiral out of control (at the cost of my own inner peace), so from now on, I’m saying fuck peace; if I have a problem, I want to voice it. *

* safely and respectfully :–)