First and foremost I want to say I respect every man and woman in our military service. However, wars are unnecessary, and all they do is bring pain and suffering to every country, including those countries that “win.” I am thankful to live in a country where I have cleaner water than most and human rights, but I am not proud to live in a country that believes its war tactics and preparations warrant superiority.

I saw “Wonder Woman” on opening night, and it was amazing. An empowering movie with a message about how love is the only thing that can stop a war and how every man has a choice. By the end, the movie acknowledges that a bad leader and a few bad people are not equivalent to a bad country. It’s a relevant and inspirational message, and I recommend everyone to see it.

If we lose a war then our loved ones die. If we win the war then we kill other people’s loved ones, and many of ours still perish. Everyone thinks their way of life is the correct one. We just assume that our way is the best. For every soldier who comes home safe and sound, there is a family who is suffering a great loss and vice versa. There are no true winners.

It seems like hundreds of years ago the purpose of war was conquering the world. The purpose of war today seems to be to force each other to see from their narrow point of view. What are we fighting over? Other countries’ laws? Money? Religion? Terrorism? If we’re fighting terrorism, then we should acknowledge that we’re not fighting a country, we’re fighting an organization, and we should take extra precautions to not kill individuals we are trying to save. We’re basically just killing thousands of people until we all come to an agreement, which may never happen.

I am angry because World War III may be right around the corner, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I don’t have money, political power or fame. I’m just a college student, which is sad because the people who have the ability to fix things are doing nothing about it. The people in power seem to be totally okay with the fact that thousands of innocent lives are lost for the sake of winning.

The United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, North Korea, India, Pakistan and Israel all have weapons that could destroy the human race. Why? Why does anyone have the authority to say, “You know what, that other country that I have no moral control over isn’t listening to me, so let’s just end them.” Under what circumstances should anyone have the ability to destroy an entire civilization? No one should have that kind of power. I wish Wonder Woman’s character was real so that she could find a way to disarm all of the nukes in the world.

War tactics have gotten more dangerous as years have gone by and technology has progressed. But our reasons for fighting have gotten weaker, and it’s time we take a crack at changing the world without bombs and threats. It’s time to communicate openly across borders and enforce what we think is right without taking lives in the process.

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