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September/October 2002 Editor's Viewpoint
The Power of One

I’m sure you’ve already got too many good books on your "to read" list, but I would really like to recommend "Power vs. Force – The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior" by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. (Hay House, $14.95). The richness, wisdom and implications of this book are so profound that it should be required reading for every college student, business person, healer, parent, cleric and politician. (Have I left anyone out?)

Hawkins’ central premise is that true power is based on the high vibration of moral integrity and principle, and it will always win out, in the long run, over force. I have taken a number of quotes from this book and used them below to illustrate the power principle behind a number of articles in this issue.

"Force is the universal substitute for truth. The gun and the nightstick are evidence of weakness; the need to control others stems from lack of power, just as vanity stems from lack of self-esteem."

One who seems to understand this is Dennis Kucinich, who "Prayer for America" has made such a stir. Kucinich has been pressing for a Department of Peace in order to have at least some counterbalance to the juggernaut of the War Department. Here is a politician stating "That all people are essentially one. That the world is interconnected not only on the material level of economics, trade, communication, and transportation, but interconnected through human consciousness, through the human heart…" I have run his even more extraordinary speech to the Peace conference in Croatia on the front cover to show support for this brave man who demonstrated the power of one individual running against the odds, but from a platform of principle. The voters of Ohio showed their power by electing him.

"The difference between treating and healing is that in the former, the context remains the same, whereas in the latter, the clinical response is elicited by a change of context so as to bring about an absolute removal of the cause of the condition rather than mere recovery from its symptoms."

The second cover article is about Dr. Harvey Karp, a sole pediatrician who was appalled at the cases of child abuse he had to treat where inexperienced parents were driven to violence by babies who cried non-stop. He rejected the sedating solutions then offered by conventional medicine and through research and perseverance came up with both an explanation and a natural solution to the underlying problem. Karp – one individual - is now creating, single-handedly, a revolution in the care of babies.

What better illustration could there be of this than the example of the Pearl Clinic and Pharmacy on page 1. Rather than bewailing the shortcomings of today’s specialist-focused, money-driven medical scene, they have undertaken to create a new model, integrating kindness, consideration and the best of Eastern and Western medicine. Again this was the vision of one individual, Rich Silverman.

On page 9 you will find the story of the Women in Black. This quote beautifully encompasses their raison d’être. Recognizing the futility of terror and counter-terror as a means of ending the war in the Middle East, some Arab and Israeli women, dressed in black for mourning, began holding a public vigil for peace. Braving accusations of "Traitor" and physical abuse, they came together weekly in silent protest against the terrible waste of life. With no organization, women in cities all over the world joined in solidarity, adding other areas of violence and conflict to their peace vigils. Again, it started with one woman and then another and another, living the solution they want to see.

Will they win in the end? Yes, without a doubt. How long will it take? It is up to us. We need first to recognize within ourselves, and then to exercise--the Power of One.