Why Peace?

There are two time periods in American History which I believe are the most interesting to study.  These periods, seemingly, were also the most productive in U.S. History.  They were:  the time between the end of the War of 1812 (1814) and the Annexation of Texas (about 1846), and the time between the conclusion of the Civil War (1865) and the Spanish-American War (1898).

The first time period, mentioned above, was a time of unity in the country that had not been seen since before the Revolution.  It was a time for major reform, whether it was critical thinking, religious enlightenment, or social class.  This was the era of Thoreau, Emerson, and Whitman; the Transcendentalists.  Yet, while these men are quite notable, they were merely the teachers and a few of the makers of change which came to define this era and redefine America.

The second period was known as the Reconstruction, or the Industrial Revolution, and had a newfound emphasis on business.  This time is marked by the corporate giants and “robber barons” of Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller.  Twain and Steinbeck, too, began their writing careers at this.

Judging by this information, things were going generally well.  What can we attribute this to?  Despite a couple of shortfalls, it would seem that there is really no connection between these two eras.  Could it have been a commitment (and, in the case of the Reconstruction, a recommitment) to do and make things work properly for the people?  I believe this is part of it, but what allowed them to focus on this, versus some war or something?

There lies the answer to these periods’ successes; there was no war.  The first period of time that was addressed is the longest period that America has been at peace, thirty-two years.  The second period was the second longest, at thirty-three years.  Now, one could make the point that today, we are making more progress than we did in these past eras, but are we, really?  I’m talking in the sense of original thoughts.  Today, we focus almost all of our energies on regurgitating and improving that which has already been designed.  In my mind, two new versions of the iPad in one year are not nearly as impressive as the dishwasher, escalator, and diesel engine in twelve years.

The point I am trying to make here does not deal as much with the disadvantaged as it does about what is right and progressive.  Progress, of course, will breed positive action for the disadvantaged, eventually, but the main point in all this is to address what we could accomplish without unnecessary war.  The current budget of the US asks for 663 billion dollars for “defense.”  Compare this with the United Nation’s estimate of 195 billion dollars to end world hunger, yet we can’t seem to bring ourselves to do something actually good for mankind.  What could we accomplish?  This is the real importance of peace.