Obedience. Resistance. The inner cost of doing what’s right. In this episode of Wolff Peace, host Avis Kalfsbeek explores the tension between obeying unjust laws and standing for justice. From Plato’s Crito, where Socrates chooses death over escape, to the early years of Aung San Suu Kyi’s nonviolent struggle in Myanmar, we reflect on what it means to remain true to your conscience—even when the consequences are great.

In this episode:

• Plato’s argument for lawful obedience and moral integrity
• Aung San Suu Kyi’s long house arrest and evolving legacy
• Two reflection questions for your inner and outer peace practice

Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series.

Music: “Dalai Llama Rides a Bike” by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Try my voice clone “Amaya Calm” on Eleven Labs for your audio book or other creative project: https://try.elevenlabs.io/peace

Robert Paul Wolff’s Political Man and Social Man: Amazon link

Missed an episode? This special recap journeys from John Locke to Friedrich Engels, linking each classic thinker to a peace warrior of our time. Perfect for catching up or diving in.

We take a reflective pause in our Wolff Peace series to look back on Part One of Robert Paul Wolff’s Political Man and Social Man: “The Individual and the State.”

Host Avis Kalfsbeek revisits the questions of political legitimacy, power, and moral resistance—and considers how the teachings of Hooker, Austin, Weber, Lenin, Locke, Hume, and Engels meet our present moment.

We also revisit the peace warriors who offered alternate models of strength—from Dorothy Day to Bayard Rustin—and ask what authority looks like when love leads.

In this episode:

• Reflections on seven core thinkers of Part One
• Peace Pairing highlights and their unique forms of moral authority
• Two big questions to carry into your own practice of peace

Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series.

· Music: Dalai Llama Rides a Bike and The Red Kite by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez.

· Bandcamp | Spotify

· Robert Paul Wolff’s Political Man and Social Man on Amazon

What if class struggle met nonviolence? In this bold pairing, Friedrich Engels goes head-to-head with civil rights strategist Bayard Rustin to ask: Can we build a just world without bloodshed?

What is the origin of the state, and can it be peaceful? In this episode of the Wolff Peace series, host Avis Kalfsbeek examines Friedrich Engels’ theory that the state was born from class antagonism and is inherently a tool of oppression. Paired with Engels is the visionary civil rights strategist Bayard Rustin, who dedicated his life to building a nonviolent, inclusive movement for justice in America.

Together, their voices raise deep questions about the foundations of peace—whether it can be forged through revolutionary upheaval, or by building alliances within broken systems.

In this episode:

• Engels’ theory of the state as a tool of inequality
• Bayard Rustin’s model of principled nonviolence and intersectional activism
• Two reflection questions for your personal and political life

Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series.

Music: Dalai Lama Rides a Bike by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez

Listen to more on Bandcamp or Spotify

Robert Paul Wolff’s Political Man and Social Man on Amazo

What happens when Western property theory meets Indigenous eco-wisdom? This Wolff Peace episode pairs John Locke with Vandana Shiva in a radical rethink of ownership, land, and peace.

In this episode of the Wolff Peace series, host Avis Kalfsbeek contrasts the legacy of John Locke—whose ideas about liberty and property helped justify land enclosures and colonial expansion—with the work of Vandana Shiva, a scientist and activist who defends seeds, soil, and the commons.

Through the lens of Robert Paul Wolff’s Political Man and Social Man, we trace the roots of modern liberalism and its uneasy relationship with power and place. What might Locke and Shiva teach us about freedom, consent, and the responsibilities of being human?

In this episode:

• A look at Locke’s essay The Origins and Purposes of Political Societies
• Vandana Shiva’s challenge to seed patents and resource privatization
• Two questions to spark reflection in your world

Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series.

Music: Dalai Llama Rides a Bike by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez.

Bandcamp | Spotify

Robert Paul Wolff’s Political Man and Social Man on Amazon

Wolff Peace – V. I. Lenin & Leo Tolstoy

Two Russians. Two revolutions. Two visions of peace.

In this episode of the Wolff Peace series, host Avis Kalfsbeek explores a striking contrast between two towering Russian figures: Vladimir Lenin, revolutionary and architect of the Soviet state, and Leo Tolstoy, novelist turned pacifist who rejected all violence in the name of love and spiritual truth.

Through the lens of Robert Paul Wolff’s Political Man and Social Man, we examine Lenin’s call for the destruction of the capitalist state—and Tolstoy’s call for the moral regeneration of the human spirit. One saw peace through revolution. The other saw revolution through peace.

In this episode:

• A look at Lenin’s The State and Revolution
• Tolstoy’s philosophy of Christian nonviolence
• Two reflection questions for your inner and outer worlds

Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series.

Music: Dalai Llama Rides a Bike by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez. Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Robert Paul Wolff’s book Political Man and Social Man on Amazon (I am not an affiliate)

Wolff Peace – Max Weber & Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Power, legitimacy, and the courage of nonviolence.

In this episode of the Wolff Peace series, host Avis Kalfsbeek explores political philosopher Max Weber’s stark definition of the modern state as the “monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force,” and pairs it with the bold life of Abdul Ghaffar Khan—the Muslim pacifist known as the “Frontier Gandhi.”

While Weber wrestled with the ethics of power and governance, Khan led a movement of over 100,000 nonviolent Pashtun activists against British colonialism, grounded in faith, discipline, and love. Together, these thinkers raise urgent questions: Can peace be built without force? And what kind of power heals rather than harms?

This episode includes:

• A look at Max Weber’s Politics as a Vocation
• A portrait of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgar movement
• Two reflection questions to apply the episode to real life

Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series.

Music: Dalai Llama Rides a Bike by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez. Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Robert Paul Wolff’s book Political Man and Social Man on Amazon (I am not an affiliate)

Wolff Peace – John Austin & Audre Lorde

Power, obedience, and the poetry of resistance.

In this episode of the Wolff Peace series, host Avis Kalfsbeek explores the tension between legal authority and moral justice through the lens of 19th-century legal theorist John Austin and radical poet and activist Audre Lorde.

Austin’s theory of legal positivism defines law as the command of a sovereign backed by force—regardless of whether it is just. His focus on structure and obedience set the stage for modern legal systems but left little space for resistance or morality.

Enter Audre Lorde. With poetry, protest, and fearless truth-telling, she challenged not only unjust laws but the cultural norms that sustain them. Lorde rejected the separation of power from morality and insisted that real peace begins with liberation—for those silenced by race, gender, class, and sexuality.

This episode includes:

• A concise introduction to John Austin’s legal philosophy
• Audre Lorde’s challenge to systemic oppression and her vision of peace rooted in truth
• Two peace questions to guide reflection in both public and personal life

Visit aviskalfsbeek.com to learn more about the podcast, books, and upcoming episodes in the Wolff Peace series.

Music: Dalai Llama Rides a Bike by Javier “Peke” Rodriguez. Bandcamp: https://javierpekerodriguez.bandcamp.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3QuyqfXEKzrpUl6b12I3KW

Robert Paul Wolff’s book Political Man and Social Man on Amazon (I am not an affiliate)