Group Genie

The Ai Sakai

Summary: World peace or "peace on Earth" can be thought of as either a vision for humanity or a goal for humanity. It’s a noble vision, but an awful goal. It falls short for many reasons, mainly it does not motivate most people because it’s too absolute and perfectionist. It’s also likely to lead to disagreements between some religious people because different religions have different visions of world peace. Group Genie has come up with a new goal for humanity, the Ai Sakai, that has many advantages over “world peace” and “peace on Earth.” The simplified version of the Ai Sakai is that it’s a hundredfold decrease in preventable suffering and premature death before the end of this century.

The current yardstick for humanity is the idea of world peace or “Peace on Earth.” Unfortunately, as a goal it has several shortcomings:

1. It’s too perfectionist. Too absolute. – Most people can’t take it seriously.

2. It’s vague. Does it mean no war or no conflict at all? Would that include environmental balance?

3. It causes conflict because various religions have different visions. If there were world peace would it be a Christian world peace? A Muslim world peace? A Buddhist world peace? An atheist world peace?

4. There’s no timeframe. World peace by when?

5. There’s little personal incentive to take action.

6. Total peace seems unnatural, since some conflict in life is natural.

World Peace as a vision is fine, but as a goal it causes conflict and a sense of inferiority—never being good enough. It's like being a first-grader whose parents tell him or her that they expect straight As all the way through school. The expectation would cause you to give up right away.

Here’s an alternative vision: The Ai Sakai (In Japanese, Ai means harmony or love. Sakai means frontier or limit.)

The Ai Sakai has three parts:

·        A hundredfold decrease in preventable suffering and premature death before the year 2100. (Taking the year 2000 as the baseline.)

·        A 95% return to environmental balance by 2100. For instance, that would mean a 95% reduction in surplus carbon dioxide in the air relative to a sustainable level. It would also be a 95% reduction in other contaminants, and return of forests to 95% of the acreage in the year 2000. [Currently, we are not as keen on this 95% concept, as we are of the hundredfold reduction in suffering concept. We welcome comments.]

·        At least a fourfold increase in happiness of the active participants within two years. (Half as much time feeling actively bad, and twice as much time feeling actively good.) Participants are encouraged to learn one new habit or skill each year that will increase happiness and well-being.

Advantages of the Ai Sakai

1. Decreasing human suffering is a goal that everyone can emotionally connect with. It can promote a sense of unity and common purpose.

2. It’s a (theoretically) achievable goal: By definition, preventable suffering is preventable.

3. It has a time frame. Many of the people born now may live to see 2100.

4. It’s just as lofty a goal. A world with 99% less suffering would be a breathtaking achievement.

5. Progress is measurable. We can celebrate progress along the way. Every little bit counts.

6. While “world peace” often leads to arguments about the final state, the Ai Sakai will more likely lead to practical discussions about methods and steps along the way.

Peace

Sakai

Status: We had the idea of “recycling” the peace sign. We also have a story concept that contrasts a cold, austere “Miss World Peace” with a more approachable female “Ai Sakai” to help people think about which is more beautiful, a too perfect ideal, or an approachable one. It could be the basis for a video story. We also own aisakai.org.

Plans and Needs: To create a video that will announce the Ai Sakai and its advantages to the world. Perhaps to start an educational campaign to replace Christmas card “peace on Earth” language with “Ai on Earth.”

Also, more work needs to be done to refine the three-part definition. While the hundredfold reduction in suffering is clear and theoretically possible, the 95% return to environmental balance is less certain. It's also unclear that it can be reached as "easily" by the end of the century.

Potential Impact: The Ai Sakai can have a huge background influence. By giving humanity a believable goal, it can turn the century into a drama to see how quickly the vision could be achieved.