If the Greatest Generation fought and won World War II and created a new world where a war like that one was far less thinkable, then the Baby Boomers must be the Double Secret Greatest Generation for fighting multiple wars on multiple fronts.
We fought the War on Poverty. Haven’t won that one yet. We’re currently fighting the War on Terrorism, the War on Women, the Climate War, the War on Christmas (how will we know if we’ve won that one?) and other, lesser wars on education, entitlements, health care, obesity (seem to be winning this one), the minimum wage, voter ID laws, sabermetrics and a few others that I’m sure others believe us to be waging.
What we really need, though, is a War on War. That one would be worth fighting, albeit delicately. Because obviously we couldn’t’ be fighting an actual war while fighting a war to end wars. So don’t look for the United States to enter Syria, Iran, North Korea or even Nigeria with a force ready to end hostilities or to slap some people in the face, grab them by the shoulders and yell, “What the heck are you thinking?” (I would volunteer for this kind of duty. I do outrage really well.)
The War on War has to start with every individual and every media outlet in the country. It requires a sustained effort on the part of every citizen and we need to teach it to our youth. It would be an idealistic campaign, but sometimes those are the most successful ones. Besides, we can’t afford to lose this one.
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