Making war academic

Today, the battle for minds

I disagree with the need for military recruitment altogether. If society deems that military action is the right decision, the society must commit to that vision and force conscription and draft people from all walks of life, not just target those who are poor and want to go to college.

But if government cannot commit this country to really go to war, then there should be no wars.

The government and the economy have created a situation for millions where the only way to get an opportunity for college is to join the service, or continue without higher education. While the GI Bill sounds like a good policy for people without resources, it's an indicator of the focus of our society that signing up for military service is one of the only ways millions of people are able to access the basic opportunity of higher education. This puts the commitment to war above the commitment to education.

Ignorance breeds war; the only cure is education. Yet we continue to perpetuate this situation by never providing all people with the education needed to avoid wars altogether.

With the money that has been spent on missiles, nukes, bombs, guns, armor and rebuilding what was destroyed, just imagine what would have been possible if that same wealth [had been devoted to] education, building relationships with other societies, or creating opportunity for impoverished people who must join the military to get educated.

The world is in our hands, we have an opportunity to decide how we want to spend our energy and resources. Do we want to commit our priorities to war and death? Do we want to spend billions on weapons in outer space when we could make real improvement for millions of people's lives? Wouldn't we rather see people flourish and grow our society than destroy or kill people?

Anything is possible, but we have to have strong leadership to commit to that vision, and not react with petty retribution, revenge or out of fear, or worse, out of greed. Peace and love take far more courage and strength than killing.

Ben Johnson writes from Seattle.