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Defence

I will not attack others for personal gain, but I will help to defend myself and others against harm.

A typical wish

This supports the Defence and Courage ideal: "I wish to live in a world where I am not at risk of being intimidated, hurt or killed by others. In the event that there exist any persons or animals that thrive by preying on people, in my ideal world the people will cooperate to prevent those individuals from harming others."

This is a fairly widespread desire. It is associated with the "Peacemaker" style of behavior.

There are some people who prefer instead to prey on others. To gain power, bullies join into gangs. They have fears too, but they are satisfied if they are part of the largest, most powerful gang. It doesn't bother them to oppress others; indeed, they prefer that there should be some whom they can prey on in order to get the things they want. This is the "warrior" style of behavior.

Peacemakers, on the other hand, do not divide into groups that fight each other; instead the peacemakers form a single group of unlimited size where there is no fighting or oppression among them.

Although warring still exists in the world, there is an evolutionary advantage to peacemaker behavior.

The peculiar thing is that warriors prefer to live within a group of peacemakers, even if they don't want to be peacemakers themselves. Among peacemakers they can feel safe. It's dangerous to be among warriors, because you never know when one might stab you in the back!

For the purposes of this policy book, it is assumed that the reader prefers the peacemaker style of behavior (that the person is a peacemaker at heart, or at least that they aspire to become so).

Making the Wish come true

Some ways to vote for a just, peaceful world:

"I will never attack or oppress any other person or group for personal gain. If I become involved in violent activitiy, it will always be to defend but never to attack."

"I will support justice by working with other like-minded people in my society to develop fair laws, and to put into place means of law enforcement with impartial judgement." (The impartiality is needed, because without out it individuals might get into an endless cycle of "tit for tat" retributions, each supposing that they are taking action to enforce justice.)

"If I am in a situation where someone is suffering at the hand of a bully or a gang, and there are no justice enforcer(s) available, I and other good people around me will not sit idly by and watch; instead we will use our joint power to overcome the bully or gang."

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