Table of Contents
For Janice Vaughn, my tenth-grade English teacher,
who told me I should be a writer.
I have been writing ever since.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to begin by thanking Jo Ann Deck. This book would not exist and I would not be alive today if not for her endless compassion and invaluable guidance. I would also like to thank David Wilk, who is the kind of publisher every author dreams of having and the kind of person who embodies many of the ideals I discuss in this book. I would like to thank Gray Cutler, whose thorough copy-edits brought this book to a higher level, and whose tireless attention to detail reminds me why every writer needs an excellent editor. And I would like to thank Leslee Goodman and Vicki Weiland, for helping with the developmental editing of this book and for being great friends and comrades in the struggle for peace. I would like to thank Barbara Aronica-Buck for designing a beautiful book cover that visually conveys the hope, love, and longing for peace that I strive to convey in words. And I must thank Joanne Sprott, who made an important contribution by proofreading this book and compiling a great index. Her professionalism and exceptional ability as an editor remind me that creating a book is truly a group effort. Finally, I would like to thank my new family at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. They have saved my life in more ways than one.
THE GREAT QUESTION
BY GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR
The great question is: Can global war now be outlawed from the world? If so, it would mark the greatest advance in civilization since the Sermon on the Mount. It would lift at one stroke the darkest shadow which has engulfed mankind from the beginning. It would not only remove fear and bring securityit would not only create new moral and spiritual valuesit would produce an economic wave of prosperity that would raise the worlds standard of living beyond anything ever dreamed of by man.
The hundreds of billions of dollars now spent in mutual preparedness [for war] could conceivably abolish poverty from the face of the earth. It would accomplish even more than this; it would at one stroke reduce the international tensions that seem to be insurmountable now, to matters of more probable solution. This would not, of course, mean the abandonment of all armed forces, but it would reduce them to the simpler problems of internal order and international police. It would not mean utopia at one fell stroke, but it would mean that the great roadblock now existing to the development of civilization would have been cleared.
You will say at once, that although the abolition of war has been the dream of man for centuries, every proposition to that end has been promptly discarded as impossible and fantastic. But that was before the science of the past decade made mass destruction a reality... now the tremendous evolution of nuclear and other potentials of destruction has suddenly taken the problem away from its primary consideration as a moral and spiritual question and brought it abreast of scientific realism. [The abolition of war] is no longer an ethical equation to be pondered solely by learned philosophers and ecclesiastics, but a hard-core one for the decision of the masses whose survival is the issue...
Many will tell you with mockery and ridicule that the abolition of war can be only a dreamthat it is but the vague imagining of a visionary. But we must go on or we will go under. And the great criticism that can be made is that the world lacks a plan that will enable us to go on. We have suffered the blood and the sweat and the tears. Now we seek the way and the truth and the light. We are in a new era. The old methods and solutions for this vital problem no longer suffice. We must have new thoughts, new ideas, new concepts... We must have sufficient imagination and courage to translate this universal wish for peacewhich is rapidly becoming a universal necessityinto actuality.1
General Douglas MacArthur, 1961
PREFACE
Unlocking the Mysteries of Human Nature
I have hope because I am alive. I have hope because my existence shows the impossible can become possible. When people said racial segregation in America must end, those who supported segregation controlled the society, government, military, corporations, many universities, and most of the money. What did the advocates of desegregation have on their side? The truth. Contrary to widely believed myths, it was not true that African Americans were inferior to whites. It was not true that racial harmony was impossible.
When people said women should have equal rights with men, those who opposed womens rights controlled the society, government, military, corporations, many universities, and most of the money. What did the advocates of gender equality have on their side? The truth. Contrary to widely believed myths, it was not true that women were intellectually inferior to men. It was not true that women were less than human.
Today ending war is necessary for the survival of humanity, yet those who perpetuate war control the society, government, military, corporations, many universities, and most of the money. What do we have on our side? The truth. Contrary to widely believed myths, it is not true that human beings are naturally violent. It is not true that war is inevitable. It is not true that war protects our way of life and makes us safe. This book provides the evidence and reasoning necessary to support these claims, and it outlines a path away from war that shows how we can solve our worlds most serious problems.
Historical perspective is one ingredient in the recipe for hope, because when people lack perspective they also lack hope. To see how much humanity can achieve, we must recognize how far we have come. Five hundred years ago ideals such as democracy, the right to vote, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and womens and civil rights virtually did not exist. And how many democratic countries were there two hundred years ago? By 1810 Napoleon had overthrown the democratic government in France, and the United States was not a democracy for African Americans, women, and even many white people, since owning land was a common requirement for voting. But because people in the past had hope and took action, democracies now exist in many parts of the world, and America has become a place where I can write these words today.
I grew up in Alabama, and although my father was half white, half black and my mother was Korean, I had the opportunity to graduate from West Point because our ancestors who waged peace embodied the highest ideals I learned in the U.S. Army, such as its Warrior Ethos: I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade.
Whether their mission was ending racial segregation or achieving womens rights, those who struggled for a better world placed the mission first, never accepted defeat, and never quit. When the ship of justice allowed only a few people on board and seemed to disappear over the horizon, they refused to leave behind their comrades, their brothers and sisters, their fellow human beings. This book will explain why the ongoing struggles for justice, peace, womens rights, and racial equality are stagnating and even losing ground in many parts of the world, and what we can do to turn the tide. This book will show how far humanity has come, how much further we can go, and how we can get there.
For hundreds of years my African ancestors were slaves, and my father was drafted into a segregated army. Progress happened not only because people had hope and took action, but because truth is more powerful than lies. Injustice is built on lies, and every lie has a fatal flawit isnt true.
