Wednesday, April 16, 2014

A Way Forward for Ukraine, Russia, and the Nations of the World



by Madison Reed

Ms. Grytsenko's article that just appeared in the Kyiv Post today, offers some important insights into what is driving peoples' anger in eastern Ukraine.  It reveals the complexity of the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian society - especially in the East.

The old, typically haughty behavior of governments worldwide is no longer effective with people today.  The solutions from the previous age no longer yield good results.

Governments need to learn wisdom and humility, and consult with their people truthfully and compassionately, laying all the cards out on the table.  For the people and the government in any negotiation, the parties must make an honest assessment of what is be best for the advancement, well-being and tranquility of the people and whole world, in alignment with the great principle of Unity in Diversity.

Shoghi Effendi, 1930s
"If long-cherished ideals and time-honored institutions, if certain social assumptions and religious formulae have ceased to promote the welfare of the generality of mankind, if they no longer minister to the needs of a continually evolving humanity, let them be swept away and relegated to the limbo of obsolescent and forgotten doctrines. Why should these, in a world subject to the immutable law of change and decay, be exempt from the deterioration that must needs overtake every human institution? For legal standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to safeguard the interests of humanity as a whole, and not humanity to be crucified for the preservation of the integrity of any particular law or doctrine."  ~Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, 1938, p.41-42

Mikhail Gorbachev, 1950s

"Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences."
  ~Mikhail Gorbachev, December 7, 1988 speech to the World at the United Nations General Assembly
These must be the goals for arriving at a solution to any problem--NOT for the sake of one side winning any argument, or for the worship of any human made law!  Flexibility is needed by all parties.  All must be open to receive new information and ideas.







Related news:   Oksana Grytsenko: What drives the hate in eastern Ukraine

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