world peace

[Adam Blatner]

This was from the IAGP:PSYCHODRAMA section mailing list, for your interest. 

            PSYCHODRAMA,WORLD PEACE,AND THE LEGACY OF J.L.MORENO
                                      by Joseph Moreno

Dear Colleagues: As we look forward to the IAGP congress that is to begin shortly in Sao Paulo, let us also keep in mind that much of our world is in turmoil.At this moment the Middle East is in total chaos. The fighting between Israel and Hamas and Hezbolah is leading to ever more violent attacks in both Israel and Lebanon. This threatens to more directly involve both Syria and Iran, and could lead to a far broader war with possible consequences that are frightening to contemplate. The violence in Iraq and Afghanistan continues unabated,there is a recognized genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan, as the world watches, and only a few days ago terrorists bombed the trains in Mumbai, India, killing nearly 200 persons. The list seems endless regarding these affronts to peace and human dignity occurring around
the world.
While we celebrate Moreno`s great contributions in Sao Paulo, the wonderful methods of psychodrama, sociodrama, group therapy, and more, I urge that we also remember that Moreno`s vision was a global one that extended far beyond the clinic. He was a visionary who clearly hoped that his methods could bridge international conflicts, and help create
a more peaceful and harmonious world. He posed the question very directly: "Who shall survive?"

   That question has never been more pertinent, the spectre of a possible global nuclear holocaust never more real. I stongly believe that all of us who are commited to the legacy of Moreno`s work have a special responsibility to try to apply these methods beyond the clinic where our work has long been proven effective. How can we now become more socially and politically active in the global arena, active protagonists in the pragmatic struggle to find a path towards world peace?
      If picked today to play the role of "world peace," personified as an auxiliary in a psychodrama, how would you play the role? Certainly you would have to express your overwhelming sadness, your fears, your feelings of hopelessness at the way things are going, your grief at the needless killings that take place each day. Our minds become numbed by
the death tolls reported in the daily news.
     What can we do?

     Monica Zuretti has been active in oganizing sociodramas on the streets in Buenos Aires, helping people to better cope with problems of social and economic disorder that have plagued Argentina, a model for using Moreno`s legacy to help bring about real social and political change. Our planet has become ever smaller, and the group with the most dire need of therapy is the global community, a community in serious trouble at this time.
       Therefore, in regard to these kinds of concerns, I would like to propose that in Sao Paulo consideration be given to the formation of a new Section of IAGP on Peace and Social Activism.This new section should work in conjunction with the pre-existing sections on Family Therapy, Group Analysis, Organizational Consultancy, Psychodrama and Transcultural. If there is a forum in the congress in which to propose and discuss this idea, I would be honored to adress the issue. 
    It is certainly very gratifying to see the movement towards the creation of a Moreno Museum in Bad Voslau, an initiative led by Michael Weiser, Grete Leutz, and others.This museum will be a wonderful way of preserving the roots of Moreno`s work. It can become a permanent center for an archival repository of Moreno`s writngs, and a place to inspire
future generations to study and apply his methods. But, as we preserve and honor the past,let us not neglect the overwhelming global challenges that confront us in the present.
   Certainly, if Moreno were alive today, he would be directly adressing the rise of terrorism, the dangers of nuclear conflict, ethnic genocide,and so on. Protagonists like Osama bin Laden and George Bush are unable to communicate, yet each is convinced of the inherent rightness of their positions.The belief sytems of two such individuals go far beyond their personal worlds,and their social atoms extend into a growing global division.
        Let us try to respond in a way that I believe Moreno would have hoped for, by applying the power of his work into the pragmatic world of war and peace,destruction or survival. Respectfully submitted.  Joseph Moreno
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