Waging war was not a necessary survival skill until peaceful peoples were compelled to learn the arts of war to defend themselves against the next deadly onslaught. Once war became a way of life, there seemed no way to reverse the trend. Wars established national borders. The first successful wars of conquest paid off handsomely for the victors. At the peak of Empire, victorious armies brought home the booty—golden trinkets, exotic animals, slave wives and whatever valuables they could carry home. Victorious legionnaires were greeted in triumph as they paraded their trophies down the great boulevards of ancient imperial capitols. Magnificent triumphal arches and massive obelisks were erected to commemorate the great victories.

War rearranged humankind. The strong attacked and enslaved the weak. The victors took control of the lives and resources of the vanquished. Conquered people either died, fled into the wilderness or were conscripted into lives of servitude. In an imperial arrangement, within a totalitarian power structure, everyone’s life was fundamentally reoriented from the way people related in small societies before war and empire.

The wars of yesterday generated the wars of today. The wars of today are generating the wars of tomorrow. War perpetuates the borders, visible and invisible, that continue to separate people. It seems like war will never end. War leads to more war, more division and more ill will. War between. War within. War on many mean streets and lonely battlefields far away. In the early twenty-first century, war is an ever-more dangerous game. Our enemies are using our inventions, tactics and strategies against us. With advances in weapons technology, the risks continually get higher: the fate of nations is at stake and the freedom, vitality and prosperity of all people are at risk.

Let the people stop shouting at, shooting at, bombing or invading one another and instead make peace. Only cultivating peace can resolve the constant conflicts in human affairs. Peace can dissolve the visible and invisible borders between people. War is a waste of time. War is a high-stakes gamble putting innocent people at risk. Peace is a sure bet, threatening no one. Wars have ambiguous goals and mixed results. Pursuing peace has a clear purpose and a definitive goal—to end the divisions between people so they can come together to build a better world.

Pursuing war, the strong conquer the weak to accomplish their power and profit agendas. Pursuing peace, the strong help the weak, the innocent forgive the guilty, so balance and harmony are restored and maintained. Pursuing war, the ends justify the violent means. War becomes the ultimate excuse for doing everything wrong. Cultivating peace, the peaceful means are the peaceful ends. People begin in peace. They continue in peace. They live in peace. They die in peace. Their children live in peace. Peace becomes the ultimate reason for doing everything right.

When war began, people didn’t know any better: They had to live by the sword or die by the sword. Today, people know better. Humanity is ready to put aside their swords and use their great heritage of knowledge and technology toward everyone’s mutual benefit to establish peace. We live in an age of great technological progress, yet dark shadows still loom. Let the people open the Book of Life to an Age of Light. War is not the way forward. War is no longer the wise strategy. War is a dead end. War is no longer a good short-term strategy or long-term investment. Peace is the superior investment—personally, economically, socially and spiritually.

Can humanity expect political stability from more war? Are the nations of the world squandering their limited resources with highly questionable war escapades? With so many pressing issues at home, can America afford to squander precious resources for questionable war escapades? The time has come for a new approach to war and peace. Aggressively pursuing war with no end in sight will be the twilight of America. Being a great peace maker rather than a war monger can be a bright new dawn for America.

One cannot understand war by condemning it. One cannot gain a greater understanding of war (or anything else) by demonizing it. Combat can be a lot of fun when you’re on the winning side. It has to be a blast to pilot a jet fighter flying at twice the speed of sound, zone in on a target, press a button to fire heat-seeking missiles to blow up a bunch of stuff. Everyone loves drama, and most people enjoy a good war movie. After all, peace movie is not a recognized category. War has inspired humankind’s highest values: loyalty, bravery, camaraderie and personal sacrifice,and armies have done many noble deeds liberating oppressed people.

Armies can still do many noble deeds in situations of dire urgency.Let’s do our best to avoid meddling in the affairs of other countries and only send the military where it is urgently needed and welcomed. Let America be a wise nation trailblazing the path to a peaceful future. Let us not leave ourselves out of the fantastic possibilities of glorious centuries ahead after the nations of the Earth stop squabbling and start fully prospering together. The world needs to come together more than ever, and America could lead the way to a glorious planetary renaissance.

Modern wars are sold to the public like any other product. The drama of war attracts attention so people tune in, anxious to hear the latest. It seems to many that war is normal and violent conflict is a built-in part of human nature (absolute nonsense). Many analysts talk about the next war or wars of the future as if there is no option for peace (there’s too much money being made from war). Hot-headed leaders threaten the “nuclear option” as if it were a viable option.

War creates a degrading downward spiral in human affairs. War is responsible for a hundred million unnecessary physical and psychic wounds that will take generations to heal. American-sponsored wars have generated ill will toward this country on every continent, and that’s not good for business. War is a dark and dirty affair. America’s gigantic military is an enormous burden on the American economy that gives the people very little tangible return on their investment.

Contemplating the cost and subsequent return on investment of future wars is a murky and complicated business. What is a human life worth? How do we put human lives on an accounting ledger? Let’s reexamine the cost and return-on-investment of the business of war. It’s time to move out of the war business and into the peace business. America could create twenty well-paying jobs at home fixing our neglected infrastructure for every combat soldier deployed overseas.

Let’s go from mean to green. Isaiah prophesied “They will hammer their swords into ploughshares and their spears in sickles. Nation will not raise sword against nation. No longer will they learn how to make war.” Let’s make this famous prophecy come true. We know the words—Now let’s do the deeds. Let’s teach peace. Let’s perfect the ways of peace. Let’s build bridges rather than bombing bridges. Let’s tear down walls rather than erecting new ones. Most countries have much more to gain by cooperating than by fighting. If peace is what the people want, then what are we waiting for?

Peace is simpler than the complexity, unpredictability and mess of war. The business of peace is to build—not destroy. The business of peace is to heal—not to harm. Applying the simple stratagem of the Golden Rule, to treat others the way you want to be treated, there would be no war to begin with. Standing armies can be deployed for many beneficial and constructive purposes. Natural disasters leave thousands of people stranded and in dire need of immediate help. The U.S. Army has a lot of resources well suited to respond to forest fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.

Several hundred years from now in a peaceful future, people will watch films of war and pictures of the Holocaust and will be baffled by humankind’s once barbaric behavior. Just like we wonder in horror at the idea of bloodletting, people will laugh at the idea of war in disbelief, hardly able to believe such an unwise and wasteful thing ever happened. Don’t laugh yet—War is still with us—however outdated, unwise and harmful it is.