Our nation is being riven by 'negative peace'

The 4th of July shooting has been yet another wake up call from what Martin Luther King Jr. once called a "negative peace."

The Highland Park shooting suspect has not lived a year of his life in which the U.S. has not been at war in some capacity: Iraq 1 and 2, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine, etc. As weapons manufacturers in the name of profit often have been those beating the drum the hardest.

Meanwhile, 1 million people have passed away from COVID in the U.S. with very little noise made in the face of this horrific tragedy. Similarly, bosses, chambers of commerce, lobbyists, governments have continued to downplay the severity of the COVID crisis even as we reach tragic milestone after tragic milestone.

The issue of racism has only become more prominent a struggle, as one political party openly flirts with - or worse, collaborates with - white nationalism while the other's seeming corporate allegiance has only made the issue of inequality with the rich richer and the poor poorer than ever.

This lack of respect for life, especially for those already here, only contributes to this negative peace that is more and more coming apart and revealing the toxicity and advanced state of decay that is most prominently felt by the marginalized and disaffected. Sadly, the ranks of such individuals seem to be swelling.

Weapons manufacturers, corporate lobbyists, corporate interests along with those of the military need to be beholden to:

• Peace, a love of peace and a love of peace in action

• Gun control, because it is only rational that in a country filled to the brim with guns and access to guns, people tend to use them

• A reality check on police in our community - Jayland Walker was treated much differently by police than the suspect arrested in the Highland Park shootings - while police shootings kill more people than the number lost in mass shootings

• Medicare for all, up to and including mental health screenings and services

• A rejection of the use of violence overseas and a commitment to internationalism and global solidarity

• Justice for our immigrant brothers and sisters who are without documents while frequently serving as some of the only essential workers out there in warehouses and factories, and

• A love of our neighbor, as a challenge taken up by servant leaders around our area, doing myriad different loving things, who can no longer turn a blind eye as people die.

• Cristobal Cavazos, of Wheaton, is co-founder of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, and a longtime activist for the Latino community in Chicago's Western suburbs. He is a member of the Daily Herald's Editorial Board Sounding Board advisory panel.