The POWER OF PEACE™ Podcast, Barbara Gaughen-Muller interviews Professor Joe White

The POWER OF PEACE™ Podcast, Barbara Gaughen-Muller interviews Professor Joe White, recipient of the 2019 Santa Barbara-United Nations Association Peace Prize and the founder of A Year Without War which was started in 2011 at the Santa Barbara Community College. He is a graduate of the University of Calgary and UC Santa Barbara, with master’s degrees in philosophy from both universities. Professor White has served as chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Santa Barbara City College as well as a visiting lecturer at other colleges and universities. He has recently been nominated as United States Professor of the Year, and has previously been selected as the SBCC Faculty Lecturer of the Year. Professionally, he also has worked as a screenplay writer for movies and television.

In this episode of the POWER OF PEACE™ Podcast learn how Joe envisions attaining peace in the Olympic Years with ‘A Year Without War’ extending the truce from the United Nations. He says, “We’ve discovered is that the United Nations has a one-month global peace truce that the nations sign for the Paralympics. We are requesting the United Nations extend the two months Olympic global truce for ten more months so we get a year without war. If you can make one year without war, then all peacemakers can jump on the bandwagon and really work on ending war on our planet.”

Joe answered these questions from Barbara:

How did you come up with this concept?
What was it in your life, as a philosopher, a TV screenwriter for movies, you’ve had your own TV show, so what made you in your life experience, come up with the concept of A Year Without War? Was it your students? Was it you? What was it? Listen to find out.

Learn why Joe believes why we don’t have peace on our planet when the majority of people want peace? Is there an answer? He says: “We’re just at odds with each other and I don’t think we’ve learned how to tolerate each other to the degree that’s necessary, given our diversity. And we have to learn to trust ourselves and each other.”

Listen to find out how to remain optimistic and hopeful. “You and I have discussed that after World War I, by the end of the 1920s, the world had formally outlawed war. The Kellogg-Briand Pact had done that with 65 nations, but by the time things were unfolding in the 1930s and the League of Nations didn’t really have the teeth to keep the lid on this, we ended up with the horrors of World War II by the 1940s, but the Kellogg-Briand Pact is still there. Nobody has rescinded that pact of 1928 and that was 65 nations. We’ve written to all of those nations through A Year Without War and said, let’s renew that. Let’s, instead of trying to outlaw war altogether for history, let’s try one year. Just one simple step, people, one year, and that’s the process we’re in now.”

Discover the way to gain trust and understanding with conversations from your host Barbara Gaughen-Muller. “That’s why we wrote the book, Revolutionary Conversations: The Tools You Need for the Success You Want so you have these five simple tools that allow you to know you can handle any conversation. You just have to be present, knowing that you are enough to STOP, ASK for HELP so come alongside and Understand another. I think that’s part of this philosophy you have to make sure everybody realizes they can do ore in their life at work, at home, in school, etc. Once you have these tools you can become a peacemaker through conversation and connection.”

Website: A Year Without War