Stories ARE the conflict- not just about the Conflict

People often think that there IS the conflict and then there are the stories ABOUT the conflict.

It really is a distinction without a difference for narrative practitioners because the narrative understanding says that the stories ARE the conflict, they contain it, provoke it, prolong it, sustain it,  and justify it.

Any attempt to put dual narratives side by side and find common ground is wholly worthy but as futile as two gun slingers comparing guns as a way to agree to peace.

In war, stories become weapons no less than bombs or rockets. Solving the old stories won’t work.  They are made to detonate. They must be disarmed along with the checkpoints and bombs and stones and rockets that they provide the alibi for.
We have got to stop telling explosive stories.
We have got to find a new story.

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