How can it be possible that we continue to forget that declaring war, waging war, and glorifying war is a foolhardy game. Warfare is the most monstrous of all deceptions ever devised by man. Waging war is counterproductive, and a stain upon our humanity. As one who has once been deceived by the notion that war is noble, I am ardent about its treachery.

Judging from my own experience, I have to believe that every Russian fighting in Ukraine has been told that his warring will benefit Mother Russia, and in the long run, benefit Ukraine. It follows that the values the Russian soldier places on warring supplants the values he might hold in his heart for another living human being.

We find ourselves today hooked on military steroids while sleepwalking toward war. Militarily, everybody is on full alert while the fine line between deterring war and provoking war is razor thin. Preemptive actions are sometimes perceived as interdiction, so oftentimes preemptive action begets escalation. Slipping on just one rung on the escalation ladder can deliver an accidental war, and before we know what we are about, the world’s expanding nuclear deterrents could bequeath an unconscionable World War.

So, what to do? Start drawing down weapons of mass destruction now. The United Nations can pilot a de-escalation and disarmament program, and do it now. Let us start a careful climb down the escalation ladder, bomb by bomb, day by day. Monday it’s our responsibility, Tuesday it’s Russia, Wednesday China. On Thursday the rest will follow. It’s a survival instinct, an instinct the lions in the jungles and the birds in the trees know more about than we do…

Oftentimes we hear the words, “blood and treasure.” Those two words should never be used in the same sentence, for all too often, “treasure” is on the minds of those who declare the war, and “blood’ is on the minds of those who fight that war.

While staring World War Two in the face back in October of 1939, Winston Churchill characterized the times thusly: “It’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” Thank you, Winston, still is…

I remember reading in third grade that one of the early gods of war was “Thor,” who was a real badass, which led me to folk literature of badassery and false heroes like Jesse James. By fourth grade I was ready to enlist in the Marine Corps and take our fight to Korea, a thing I would actually do later, in taking our fight to Vietnam.

The American generation born during and immediately after WWII might go down in history as that short-lived interval of peaceful civilization that existed between barbarism and political degeneration.

So where will it all end? Much abler pens than mine have addressed this question to no avail. I suppose warfare will become outmoded only when testosterone levels moderate in men, and the mothers of the world get their hands on the levers of civil discourse worldwide…that’s my dream anyways, and I’m sticking with it…thanks for being here.