I am responding to “Commentary: War makes us safer and richer” (May 4).

Let’s begin with the fact that the opinion piece barely touches on the human toll that offsets whatever “progress” has come with wars.

“Safer”? This is a conclusion not well supported by the chaos and carnage now taking place in many parts of the world. Perhaps “Safer for whom?” is a more relevant question.

My principal quarrel, though, comes with the assertion that “war makes us richer.” The proof? Average personal income worldwide has risen from $2 to $25 per day.

Watch those averages – it would take 40 million people earning $25 in a day to equal the income of one billionaire who might well rake in that amount in a one-day transaction related to the sale of arms.

Certainly it was the reality and necessity of World War II that put the U.S. economy on its way to a robust state. But it is a stretch to move from that circumstance to the suggestion that we should all embrace the idea that a perpetual state of war is somehow good for us. Perhaps the impact of war is good for a few of us, but not so good for many, if not most, of us.

Gordon Brigham

Topsham


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