Making peace is a job not restricted to white-haired diplomats in pin-striped suits.

It’s worthy goal that everyone can pursue. So let’s get after it.

That was the challenge Jim Roxlo presented to The Rotary Club of McMinnville at its weekly luncheon Thursday at First Presbyterian Church.

Roxlo has been a Rotarian for a quarter-century, has traveled in 55 foreign countries and spearheaded business and economic development around the globe. He is also one of 350 Rotary Positive Peace activators working for international understanding and cooperation.

“Negative peace [may be characterized as] the absence of violence or the threat of violence,” he opened in his discussion with local Rotarians and guests.

“Positive peace,” in contrast, exists when people and societies establish conditions for human sustainability, with fairness and opportunity extended to all people, he explained.

In terms of negative peace, the United States ranks low in comparison to the other 195 recognized counties.

When it comes to ending violence and destructive conflicts, the US is not a good player, as reflected in a statistical analysis by the non-partisan Institute for Economics & Peace. A major reason for this unenviable rating is that the arms industry is a major power in the US economy, Roxlo observed.

“Why does the US rank low in the Global Peace Index?” the speaker asked.

“We make weapons. When you see kids shooting each other in Haiti, they’re using guns made in or shipped from the United States.

“Guns are a major US export.”

America’s criminal justice mentality is another drag on the promotion of peace. The US is in the top ranks of industrialized nations in the percentage of incarcerated citizens, Roxlo noted.

“Our system is punitive rather than” working toward rehabilitation, he offered, underscoring the systematic jailing of offenders when their basic problem relates to mental health, educational deficiency or economic disadvantages from birth.

On the other hand, ‘positive peace’ focuses on establishing and nurturing conditions that help people avoid conflict and mutually destructive competition, the Rotary presenter emphasized.

“Positive peace creates the optimal environment for humans to flourish.

“High positive peace systems are more likely to sustain stability,” he argued, as competent, low-corruption and responsive governments protect the rights of minorities while enabling advancement for people based on merit and hard work, not friendship with the rich and powerful.

Americans rank high in comparison with their global neighbors when it comes to positive peace, Roxlo affirmed.

“In 2019 the United States ranked high, meaning we have a lot of potential” to do good in the world and promote harmony and productive economic relationships.

Roxlo, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with two degrees in mechanical engineering, shares some of his experiences while working with DuPont in international development when he appears this week on McMinnville Public Radio 91.3-WCP.

The half-hour conversation airs as part of WCPI’s FOCUS series Tuesday at 5:05 p.m. and again Saturday at 9:35 a.m.

Extreme politeness—something not likely to be encountered in the United States—can actually be dangerous, Roxlo suggests in the WCPI interview.

In his 40-year career with international chemical colossus DuPont, he was sent to Indonesia to direct the construction of a $100 million plant for the production of nylon. In addition to the engineering and environmental problems of building in rice paddies, he had to adapt to a national culture that valued pleasantness over a realistic engagement with facts.

“When there were problems, when things weren’t going right, they didn’t want to risk offending us by telling us the facts. That could be dangerous.”