A foundation

This is an outline of what I Am War is, and what it is not.

Fundamental Assumptions, Notions, and Guidelines

At the root: Wars have causes. Causes of wars have solutions.

The purpose of I Am War is to:

1. Identify causes (of wars)
2. Identify solutions (to those causes identified)
3. Implement the solutions

On Causes

We have a specific notion of a "cause" in I Am War. A cause is always a problem of scarcity -- a lack of resources (energy, food, water), or a lack of civil liberties (speech, religion, press, assembly, petition, expression).

We say a cause is "always" a problem of scarcity; this is a hypothesis. It may be that there are other types of fundamental causes, but the focus of I Am War is to attack problems of scarcity. This is fundamental.

On Solutions

We likewise have a notion of a "solution" in I Am War. A solution is a creation -- a structure, program, invention, process, or otherwise -- that overcomes and resolves the issue of scarcity at hand. A proper, full solution in I Am War is sustainable, and it does not introduce or mask new problems of scarcity. This notion of creation is a fundamental piece of the I Am War method.

On People

A fundamental notion of I Am War is to acknowledge the humanity of every person.

It is easy to see this in our friends and our families. I Am War expands this view, and holds this notion for everyone -- our teachers, our leaders, our attackers, and our victims all share the bond of being human. We see the thieves, the murderers, warlords, zealots, and terrorists as fellow human beings. We understand this is not the traditional way of seeing our "enemies."

Building the creative environment

To rise above war, we need a supportive environment. Today, we live in an environment that leads us to war, as it has done invariably for centuries; the politics of war, on many levels, are no different today from those of the past 4,000 years. We see the actions of our leaders -- political and otherwise -- as reflections of this environment.

To get out of this war cycle, not only do we have to choose to get out of it, but we have to create an environment that supports and sustains this choice; we have to create an environment that addresses the fundamental, natural problems of scarcity in this world.

When this is done, when we build an environment of support through sustainable creation, we will have a foundation to stand upon, to live and let live. Understanding this idea is critical. Our mission is to create this supportive environment. And, in this environment, we believe the notions of war will be dismissed as arcane and unnecessary.

To put this notion in a specific light: Our goal is not to convince the world to put down its guns, but to create an environment where disarmament is the easy, natural, obvious thing to do. If people want to build bombs or carry guns, let them; as long as people own guns for defense, or spend 10-15 percent of their gross income on war machines, we know we have more work to do.

On the phrase, "I am war"

Concisely, "I am war," means, "I am taking ownership of this problem of war."

The notion of taking ownership is the same notion of ownership we use at our day jobs -- in the workplace, when someone "owns" a project, they become responsible for the end result of that project, and they are empowered to make decisions that directly impact how successful that project becomes. Similarly, when a project has no owner in the workplace, it is often left in a state of limbo, with no direction, floundering for years at a time, with no progress being made.

We believe many people feel disempowered when observing the state of affairs and the conflicts occurring around the world. Millions of people wish they could contribute in some effective way, but they don't know where to start or don't see where they fit in.

Saying "I am war" is the first step in becoming empowered. It is coming from a place of ownership, and turns us inward to look for solutions, rather than relying upon others to fix it for us.

On Peace

Our focus is on ending organized murder and bloodshed between mass groups of people -- in other words, war.

It is not our aim to end verbal disagreements, heated arguments, greed, cruel intentions, or other cerebral endeavors of humanity. We see "disagreements" between people as part of being alive in an expressive society, and an interesting part at that.

What we are not

I Am War is NOT a political organization. We are NOT here to organize protests, or march in the streets for political change. We are NOT here to define public policy. We are NOT here to disarm the military, or lay down our arms. We are NOT here to end all crime, including murder and domestic violence.

Mission Statement

In the context of the above fundamental assumptions and notions, the mission of I Am War is to build an environment of sustainable creation, while acknowledging the humanity of everyone, to empower ourselves to cause world peace in our lifetime.

A leading step

I Am War is in a state of genesis. Over the course of two and a half months, 16 people have gathered around a few simple ideas:

1. We -- you and I -- can cause world peace in our time.
2. To do this, we must create. We must create in a sustainable way. We must solve the fundamental problems of scarcity at hand, whether they be in energy, food, water, or expression.
3. The Internet has matured to a point where we can build and use serious tools that are up for this historic task.

Now that these ideas have been laid out, it is time for action. It is time to start building our framework, building our supports that we need as we grow into a global organization, when we will serve as a hub and focal point for millions of people, when we will do what's never been done.

We must act, but it must be with thought. As Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras have shown in Good to Great and Built to Last, we can learn from our past to build a great business.

They show us that it is critical to have a focus, and to build structures that support our focus. It is equally critical to have the right people in the right places, with visionaries (as opposed to task managers) in leadership roles. We must build a culture that empowers individual contributors, build a framework of ideas we can all look upon for guidance, so we can all make the "right" decision when the time comes, so we can all take ownership, as our name implies.

We are recruiting leaders on every front, as we take that next, first step.

We need engineering leaders to architect our website, to lead the building of a place dedicated to information on the fundamental causes of specific wars. We need talented directors to focus our research, to look into these conflicts and tensions, to scour publications, the media and news, to head first-person accounts.

We need savvy thinkers to craft our business plan; we need prescient artists to communicate our message; we need people who are passionate, who are screaming inside to do something meaningful, something worthwhile, something amazing -- to make something truly great.

This is your opportunity -- your invitation -- to step forward, to own this, and to meet your peers.

A framework

Upon entering our community, you will be presented with a view of the world's ongoing armed conflicts. There are about 32.

By choosing a war to resolve, you will see a mix of the work by I Am War's research and action wings. Information about the war will be provided by the research wing, whose role is to look at a specific conflict, and answer the question: What are the fundamental causes and tensions underlying this conflict? What problems of scarcity are at work, here?

Clearly, these are difficult problems. It is going to take thousands -- perhaps hundreds of thousands, likely millions -- of people to take them on, with thousands of ongoing projects, large and small. These projects will be presented along-side the work of the research wing: Here are the fundamental causes, and here are our solutions to create what's missing, to address these problems.

This is the action wing. Choose your war; now choose your action, targeted at root cause. This will not be the work of a few. This will be the work of all of us. Some will work full-time, some part-time -- but the vast majority will be on the weekends, during our free time. I Am War stands for the notion that we can all participate, create, respond, and lead, while we continue to care for our families, continue to create our homes and our selves.

Beside a pillar of engineering, a second pillar of the action wing will be our education projects. We see violence as a symptom of failure, a breakdown in communication and a loss of power of self expression. Beyond I Am War is this more-difficult problem of violence and force as a whole; we won't pretend to have a solution to this, here, but we are willing to bet that learning to communicate -- to speak honestly and to listen without judgment -- will play a key role in sustainable success.

The tip of this iceberg, the face of I Am War, the glue that keeps us connected, is our website. Leaders -- all of us -- will have the tools to create projects, to put forth our ideas, to communicate with and request workers -- volunteers or non. While the real work is done on the ground, there are many existing tools and sites that we can build upon, and the Internet will play a key role in our success.

We see now as the time to bring these ideas together. We see now as the time to learn. We see now as the time to act, to create, to build this community and to do something the world has never seen.

A simple notion

At the base of I Am War is the notion that war can be resolved -- in our lifetime -- through creation. As Albert Camus wrote, history teaches us, "Instead of killing and dying in order to produce the being that we are not, we have to live and let live in order to create what we are."

Our hypothesis is that at the root of each war is a problem of scarcity. People who lack the resources to live comfortably (e.g. food, medicine, energy), or lack outlets for expressive thought, or lack an education teaching the futility of violence are bound to be pushed toward war.

Fundamental to I Am War is the notion that "people are not the problem." People are at war, yes; people are fighting, yes. This does not make them any less human, any less perfect. The state of war is perhaps a fundamental state of a human when stressed in particular ways, and we must acknowledge this if we are to succeed. The goal of I Am War is to create structures and supports above these very real, tangible problems that lead to war, so that these historic stresses will no longer touch us.

We recognize those who benefit from the status quo of war –- and the politics of fear and division –- will be slow to change. In the U.S. Senate, in 2002 the Iraq War was declared by a vote of 77 to 23; clearly, we have much work to do. We do not fault the politician for his irresponsible act; while he may be lacking in perspective, we believe he is but a reflection of the poisonous environment he lives in.

We know the solution to crime is not to put a man in a box for 30 years, alone, and hope that he somehow fixes himself under such conditions, in a place any sane man would turn insane; the solution is to help this man, to give him an opportunity to create his life, and not dwell on his unfortunate, past choices that cannot be changed.

"Security" is the antithesis of creation; the notion of security is never a proper, long-term solution. Security, like violence, is a symptom of failure. We believe the notions of more security forces, more regulation, more restriction, more censorship, and more monitoring are false. In the long term, security and enforcement only serve to build tension among people, restrain our dialog, and deny the humanity of our selves. Security -- whether provided by the state or the gang -- does not educate, does not entrust, and does not build.

To overcome this, we must create. We must build intelligent programs with a base of honesty. To say, "I am war," is to take a critical, meaningful step. "I am war" puts us at the center, puts us at a position to act. From a position of ownership -- not a position of guilt -- we are in a place to lead, to act, to cause peace. It is not the terrorist. It is not the politician. It is not your parents, nor your friends. It is you. It is me.

To solve the problem of war we need to do more than sign mere peace treaties; we need to build a supportive environment of creation. This is an enormous task, and will require work on every front, each enormous in its own right -- education, sustainable energy, sustainable food and nutrition, sustainable creation. This is why you will not find I Am War protesting in the streets, today. We believe we must change the ground politicians walk upon.

We are comfortable putting our trust in the human race. After all, it's who we are -- nothing more, nothing less.

I am war

If the current U.S. administration were gone tomorrow, there would still be war in the Middle East. There would still be wars throughout central Africa, southern Asia, the island countries of the Pacific, and countries near the equator in the Americas.

In the past I was overwhelmed, paralyzed with the notion that the problem of war is too large, too difficult, and, moreover, someone else's problem -- after all, it's the terrorist who is fighting, or the military, or the current administration, not me. "I am war" takes ownership. "I am war" puts me in a position to act.

I understand that I own my life, my choices. I understand I'm not the victim of politicians, leaders, the state, or the corporation. I understand that I am in a community of people. I understand that I have the tools to do this. I am the politician, leader, state, and corporation. I own this.

I understand that politicians will be politicians; I understand that those who benefit from the status quo of war will be slow to change, and that I must lead and act for peace if progress is to be made.

"I am war" targets the root causes of armed conflicts. "I am war" takes the stance of action, of creation, and of results.

If we -- you and I -- are fighting in the Middle East to protect our oil interests, then let's become independent of oil for energy, and teach the world how to do the same. If Mexicans are killing each other for the opportunity to bring cocaine into the U.S., then let's help our friends quit using it. If lack of civil rights gives birth to violent attacks, then let's teach our family at home to be a beacon for the world.

What is different, today?

Today we have instant communication. We can collaborate and plan in minutes what would take previous generations days, and still-previous generations months. We have records that can be saved indefinitely, shared across the world within a minute. We can keep in touch without the need for expensive correspondence.

We have access to a history that teaches us war is not the answer. As we discover what works, the world will know and never forget.

The sheer number of people who have completed higher education allows us to be more articulate and communicative of our cause.

We have tools to help us work together. We will build even better tools, targeted at war.

"I am war" is my answer to the question, "What can I do?" I don't know what it is exactly, but I'm about to find out.

I am war. This is the start of a group with that underlying philosophy, with the same name. I will be outlining more of my vision within the coming weeks. If you are passionate about being a part of it then, please, contact us now.