Canada
By Eli Williamson-Jones
Eli Williamson-Jones, Jamie Datino, Simon O’Reilly
OK, so we did it! We made it to Canada and back bringing the total number of countries the Peace Belt has traveled through to 17! Now only 178 to go before it is retired in the Smithsonian museum, which will hopefully someday become an international museum where citizens of the world will visit and say, “Wow, can you believe humanity used to live like that? My grandfather used to tell me stories of how chaotic it was before nation states came together to recognize the global country. That was back in the days when people actually feared the clash of civilizations, nuclear war and the end of the world.”
Even if I don’t experience that beautiful day in my lifetime, I am at least grateful that me and my friends got to play a small part in invoking this spirit of a united Earth and becoming part of the history that will someday grow into a mighty revolution to bring it about. As I told my friend Simon, it will be a wonderful day to travel between the U.S. and Canada and not be charged outlandish data roaming charges for our iPhones. In a not so distant future we’ll all connect to a super fast 10G network whether we are in Afghanistan, Zambia or Antarctica. This of course is only an afterthought compared to how good it will feel taking up residence wherever you want on the entire planet and call it your country. You could decide on Somalia for your winter home and then fly to Japan for your summer cottage while not needing a passport to go in-between and not noticing any economic disparity or imbalance in infrastructure between the two regions.
I am very grateful to have played a part as caretaker in the Peace Belt’s journey and I look forward to following its travels while counting down as we approach 195 nation states where it will have worked its magic; helping to break down barriers while remove the blinders from people’s eyes showing them, that like beads and coins on a belt, we are all bound together on the same planet as one human family towards a common destiny.
The Peace Belt’s Canada Blog: http://peacebeltcanada.blogspot.com
Vincent Lemay Thivierge’s Band; Les Belvederes: http://www.vincentlemay-thivierge.com
Madeleine Peyroux’s Website: http://www.madeleinepeyroux.com