Matt Meyer is a teacher, author, and peace activist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is a longtime member of the War Resisters League and was founding chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Association. Matt views the status quo as unjust and believes that an international movement of radical social change is required to create lasting peace in the world.

“Dr. King talked in the last years of his life about the need for a true revolution against militarism, racism, and materialism. That call has not been fully embraced.”

When I hear the word peace, I think of the word justice. I think of the word revolution. When I hear the word peace, I think of a certain level of harmony through vigorous, rigorous confrontation, through revolutionary honesty, through unity in diversity. Peace is complicated. It seems simple—nice doves flying around—but without those other justice-related links, peace is nothing more than a utopian greeting card.

Very few people would disagree that we have a world that’s more at war than at peace. So to make peace out of war, you need to revolve the situation. You need to make fundamental change. You’re not going to bring about peace by eliminating a weapons system, by ending that war, or by getting independence in a country. You need an international movement of radical social change.

Matt Meyer full podcast

Discussion Questions

• What do you think of when you think of revolution? Do you think of it as an ideal, an attainable goal, or like Matt says, a process?
• If you were to be part of a revolution, what would it entail? What would be its core values?
• What do you think of linking the ideas of peace and revolution together?
• On a personal level, when in your life have you been part of the status quo? When have you been subject to the status quo?
• Is it possible to have a just status quo on a national/international level? On a local level?