Editor

Re: Battleships for Peace

As the battleship USS Iowa with its massive sixteen-inch guns slip under the Golden Gate Bridge headed for it final resting place at a museum in Los Angeles, an end of an era is upon us or it should be. For most of history wars have played a major part in our lives. Wars have been fought over almost anything you can think of, race, religion, land, greed you name it.

The First World War was called the war to end all wars. Now over ninety years after that war and many other wars since then, we have a unique opportunity to realize that First World War goal. Many conditions that triggered past wars have changed. The Europeans who had fought each other for centuries have formed the European Union. Now instead of killing each other they are trading with each other. The Asian nations though not completely at peace seem to have learned the lessons of the Second World War and are not building large armies and threatening to invade each other. The Internet is spreading democracy across the Middle East. The African Union is emerging as a deterrent against coups and rebellions. Most of the land boundaries in the Americans have been established.

This may be one of the best times in history to move out of a war mentality and create a peaceful world.

We should not miss this opportunity to accelerate the peace process in our minds, our nation and in the world. As with the old battleship, old biases related to race, religion gender, sex orientation and national origin should sail out into the dustbin of history. They should be replaced with love, respect, tolerance, justice and equality for all.

 

Elie Parker

San Leandro, CA