Memorial Day always gets my attention. This is not a happy holiday. Do wars kill quite a few people? Well, World War II killed about 50 million people! And how many were terribly injured, lost family members or personal possessions and property? And besides death, pain, torture, detention, expense, destruction, and suffering from abnormal conditions and related fears, how about post-traumatic mental strain, depression and even related suicides? Why not focus on using The Peace Prescription to prevent violence and wars?

Do we appreciate the warriors who protected us, at the expense of their own lives, body parts and mental destress? Of course we do.

But, besides honoring them with flags, speeches, concerts and this special holiday, there is an even more important way to show our appreciation
and respect: Why not read my fairly short book, The Peace Prescription (available on Amazon.com), which tells us the five steps we can all be a part of to prevent violence and wars. Let’s totally honor our dead and injured heroes and their families by preventing most violence and wars.

Wars are violence on a large scale. But, all violence is bad, whether one person is injured or killed, or millions. How many people have to die or be injured before we call it a war?

My book, which I hope is, or will also be, your book, tells how some wars have been and could be prevented, and how other wars were totally preventable and unnecessary. Of course, if we’re attacked, we have to defend ourselves. But attacks are often preventable.

The current trade war between the US and China, which is causing financial and emotional stress, and could lead to physical violence, though hopefully it won’t, could possibly have been prevented by USA leaders telling the China leaders, “Look, we want normal and prosperous trade to continue between us, but we also need fairness. Let’s prevent a serious trade war, which will result if we can’t make a deal that works well for both of us. Can we agree on some reasonable things? Here’s the list: 1) We won’t impose tariffs on your goods, if you will remove your tariffs on ours and not impose new ones; 2) we will not steal, or allow our businesses to steal, your inventions protectable by patents and Copyrights, if you will treat us the same way, so that neither of us need to impose sanctions or tariffs, or worse – even go to war; 3) we will remove unfair business restrictions on your businesses if you do the same for ours. Do we have a deal? Yes? OK! Let’s write it up and sign it within the next 2-3 weeks to prevent serious trouble we would all regret.”

Why go to war first, and then resolve the problems after the death, destruction and financial loss? Why not make the deal before the war?

Look at the Civil War in the USA, that killed about 600,000 Americans, more deaths of Americans than have been caused by all of our other wars combined! That war was readily preventable. Some slaves had been allowed by their “owners” to do some outside work for pay, and when the slave could afford it, they could buy their freedom from their “owners” for about $32, the going price for a slave at that time. It was suggested by some that the USA government could pay the slave “owners” $32 per slave, which would have freed all the slaves per a new law, and which would have given the “owners” their money back so they could afford to hire workers for their plantations, and not feel that they had been ripped off. No war would have happened.

But certain “liberals” in New England argued that it would be “unethical” to purchase the freedom of the slaves. So, that didn’t happen. A horrible Civil War (very uncivil) happened instead. 600,000 Americans killed, many thousands injured, much property destroyed and lives devastated.
And! The war cost the USA much more than what it would have cost to buy the freedom of all the slaves from the people who had bought the slaves legally, even though it should not have been legal.

Yes, wars can be prevented! Violence can be prevented. Let’s trade, let’s make deals, instead of killing and destroying.
And, The Peace Prescription book has Five Steps to prevent violence and war that we can all be a part of, as needed.
It can be your book as much as it is mine. I’d give one to all of you for free if I could afford to do that.

Your friendly problem solver,
Dr Ed Marshall