I hereby coin a new phrase: Voodoo Metrics. My inspiration is Jimmy Carter and Norway.
The Global Peace Index endorsed by former President Jimmy Carter, which ranks "countries around the world according to their peacefulness and the drivers that create and sustain their peace" has the US in 96th place. Zambia is in 53, Syria in 77, Cambodia in 85 and Iran in 97th.
Once again Norway is if first place. You've always got to acknowledge that little slice of Scandinavian heaven on earth, right? We have the following clues as to how this Global Peace Index was slapped together.
-- Peace is correlated to indicators such as income, schooling and the level of regional integration
-- Peaceful countries often shared high levels of transparency of government and low corruption
-- Small, stable countries which are part of regional blocs are most likely to get a higher ranking
Aside from the fact that 'peace' cannot be measured with a number and the very idea almost silly, the originators of the GPI have made something only a pacifist could love which is completely ignore the reasons behind violent action. The net result is that you have a metric which is just about as good as waving a dead chicken over a country's constitution. Note that the ranking makes no distinction between countries with or without a constitution.
Some of their essays show a notable distaste for nationalism and common sense, like this one entitled 'Mediators without Borders' . Dig the first paragraph:
When listening to news about the latest disasters from wars and terrorist attacks around the globe, I sometimes fantasize what would happen if, instead of dropping bombs on civilian populations, mediators by the tens of thousands were parachuted into war zones to create conversations across battle lines; if, instead of shooting bullets, mediators organized public dialogues and shot questions at both sides; and if, instead of mourning the loss of children’s lives by visiting equal or greater losses on the children belonging to the other side, mediators became mutual mourners, turning every lost life into the name of a school, hospital, library, road, or olive grove that would be open and dedicated to those who died because we lacked the skills to get along. I realize this is wishful fantasy, yet within the dream lies a truth: that it is possible for mediators to have an impact on the willingness, even of embittered, intransigent opponents, to participate in war or terrorism, by organizing alternative ways of expressing, negotiating, and resolving their differences. I call this idea “Mediators Without Borders.
There's really nothing stopping anyone from actually doing this save one thing, the survival instinct. Mediators by the tens of thousands would be shot just like innocents by the tens of thousands. In a pacifist world where such mouths like Jimmy Carter can't even get journalists by the hundreds into Al Anbar, the farcical nature of this proposal is patently clear. And yet knowing this, as any twelve year old kid would, they go ahead and try to speak in tones of 'hope' and 'optimism'.
I can't help but think that such Voodoo is little more than a ponzi scheme to bilk rich people out of their money. But there must be a certain class of wealthy naifs this appeals to besides the Laurie Davids of the world. I'm thinking of people who like Elton John's Candle in the Wind (is that the name of it?) or John Lennon's 'Imagine' as their favorite songs. Sting fans who drive Volvos are a likely candidate - a flabby lot with an easy live and disposable income. May as well dispose of it on global indulgences for 'peace' and 'sustainability'. I'm sure most of them reside here in the States and in Europe. And so, to the extent that I am read or might be possibly passed on to such folks, I dedicate my skepticism.
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