In these times of war, and rumors of war, it is easy to feel like there is nothing that can be done. But you can vote for peace, and tell President-Elect Obama how you feel, at www.change.org
The site notes that, Ideas for Change in America is a nationwide competition to identify the best ideas for change in America. The top 10 ideas will be presented to the Obama administration just before inauguration day and form the basis of a nationwide advocacy campaign to turn each idea into actual policy.
On the website, Stephen Zendt, of Walnut Creek, CA, who proposed the idea, Appoint Secretary of Peace in Department of Peace and Non-Violence, says,
Our planet, our media, our social interactions, our homes all suffer from the epidemic of inter-personal violence and warfare that plagues America. With the establishment of a Department of Peace and Non-Violence, with a respected Secretary of Peace in the President's Cabinet, and a program to reduce violence in cities, nations, and even in our homes, we will all benefit from the growth of a culture of peace.
While this is a new layer of the Federal Government, it is a positive force for change, for handling the rage and violence that has cost our country billions in emergency rooms, police protection, broken homes and marriages. This is not an attempt to circumvent or replace the Department of Defense nor to co-opt the Department of State.
This is a new entity, in the President's Cabinet, a Department dedicated to training peace-keepers, educating our children, and suggesting non-violent alternatives to hostility, and war.
We are asking for a motive and a method to counteract violence, with positive potentials for resolution of conflict, by individuals trained to work with local, state and national approaches, building a United States that no longer glorifies warfare and deadly force, but brings to the table a sincere desire for peace, and a methodology to achieve it.
Right now, (8:53 pm, PST, Jan. 14th) Appoint Secretary of Peace in Department of Peace and Non-Violence is in second place with 13,019 votes. Legalize the Medicinal and Recreational Use of Marijuana leads with 15,076 votes, and Free Single Payer Health Care, is in third place with 12,079 votes.
To vote for peace, go to click here
To see all the contenders, go to www.change.org/ideas?order=all#listSection
Click on the blue "vote now" button to vote, it turns red when it registers your vote. (You will have to sign up in order to vote, but it’s fast and free.)
Voting ends Thursday, January 15th, at 5 pm ET.
