"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." -Dwight D. Eisenhower

I like Eisenhower. He had his faults and shortcomings, but he got this idea right. It was the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift that left Western Europe outside the Soviet sphere of influence not the arming of Greek and Turk autocrats. Violence and aggression never achieve the goals they are aimed at. (At least on the scale of nations.) In war no one wins.

It is with this in mind that I am disturbed by the glorification of war.The narrative that our brave forefathers fought for our lives and we must continue to fight or loose our freedoms forever. I see this regularly both in my scholarship and teaching activities. I could insert an abundant range of examples, but that misses the point.

I am offended by this glorification. It took me much of my sentient years to conclude that pacifism is the most reasonable response to violence. I spent most of my adolescence enraptured by war; how it was fought, how decisions were made, and how I could rethink those decisions. It engaged me, it at times enthralled me, and since I considered, most ardently, historical warfare I could ignore the very real human toll. I have learned better.


I went to college in 2000 and my sophomore year began just be fore September 11th. That fall semester I remember having a humanities class the teacher was normally the choir instructor, but he took this class at the request of the college. He was insistent, just after the attacks, that America would have to buckle down for a long hard fight. He argued that America would have to do the hard thing of sticking the fight out to the end. I had already decided to drop the class, for other reasons, and that might have been why I raised my hand. I asked if the truly hard task was to forgive rather than to go to war. This was unfortunately a decade ago so I can no longer quote the conversation.

I had abandoned war as a cultural positive. How then can you solve the intractable issues of the modern world? Will North Korea be less aggressive if the US laid down its arms? Would Palestinians cease attacking Israelis if Israel decommissioned its army? 

The short answer is no. The opposite of war is not disarmament. The end of war requires provision for the welfare of the potential combatants. Germany after WWI needed to be economically sustainable to keep fanatics out of office. Refugees must be fed, clothed, and employed to keep them from lashing out in their desperation. Those who languish in poverty will spend their live looking and working for a way out. If that means seeking an education and greater opportunity of employment, or entering the employment of a local warlord who will provide welfare for armed thuggery.

Peace must be a function of mitigating the genuine competing interests existent in the world. This undoubtedly requires a genuine understanding of equality in its most universal expression. Does a CEO deserve greater pay than a coal miner? Does a CEO risk more in capitol than the worker that risks life and limb? By no means! Both deserve fair compensation, and a secure livelihood. The greater the range of equality in the world the greater the security of the world. The implications of this moderately pollyannic vision are boundless.