Peace, Love, & Liberty

War is not inevitable. But peace cannot be achieved by wishful thinking alone.

This book presents the evidence regarding what fosters peace, and what disturbs it with conflict. The data demonstrate that the world can continue to grow more peaceful if we limit government and foster open trade, the rule of law, and equal rights. It takes an unflinching look at the ideologies of conflict on the hard Left and hard Right — and presents an alternative that can be the basis of a new, smart, evidence-based Peace Movement.

There is no such thing as being 'undecided' about war. It is a binary choice. If you're not for it, you have to be against it.

The essays in this book offer evidence and arguments for peace. The writers advance peace not merely as a moral ideal or even a desirable goal, but as an eminently practical objective. Too often peace activists have thought it sufficient merely to call for peace and to denounce war, without investigating the economic, social, political, and psychological conditions of peace. They may oppose this or that war, without considering what causes wars — for example, fallacies about clashes of civilizations, economic conflict, protectionism, and the zero-sum worldview — and then addressing those causes.

Peace is not an impractical fantasy, nor is it something for which one must sacrifice prosperity or progress or freedom. In fact, peace, freedom, prosperity, and progress go hand-in-hand.