War

War has pretty much subsided in a post-racism world. It became too hard to convince soldiers to kill people that they actually think of as human beings. Even countries engaged in civil wars started to see the humanity in the people they called their enemies. With the new found respect among people of different groups, negotiations started to erupt spontaneously on battlefields.

Here’s a typical scene that caused the Army, Navy and Air Force to give up on training men for aggression altogether.

“Shoot the rag-head!” Yelled the commanding officer, who had called in sick to the post-racism re-education training.

“What head? Oh, Rag head, that's not funny.” Said the soldier, distractedly setting down his rifle as he calmly walked over and kneeled by the side of his CO. “No no, sir, those are called turbans. People wear them for cultural and religious traditions. Actually they can be quite effective in keeping your head cool in the hot sun. It’s not a reason to shoot anyone. Why don’t we sit down over a shawarma and see exactly what he wants. Then we’ll just tell him what we need and take it from there.”

With war eradicated, the government still wanted to create opportunities for young people to serve their country and be given something in return. The new GI bill (which now stands for Growth and Investment) sets its sights on tackling issues like global poverty and environmental crises. It still brings young men and women face to face with the toughest parts of the world, but without the loss of limbs and psychological trauma that had derailed the program in the past. Instead of ending up on disability and life-long therapy, these new “soldiers” returned home ready to open new business addressing the economic and environmental dilemmas they had learned about in the field. The GI bill provides the returning soldiers with small business grants (not loans) to start up projects that enhance the overall economic picture for the country or for the world.

Without the hatred that fueled the actions of war, all that was left to do was to address the root causes. The Marines, who would not let go of their status as “first on the scene” took up mediation training. Recognizing that most wars are fought over control of natural resources and economic power, the Marines started programs to bring the heads of major corporations sitting together at a mediation table. It turns out that the Marines are exactly the right people to serve as mediators because they are the only ones who can intimidate the heads of corporations enough to get them to follow the rules. So far the program has had a great deal of success. OPEC has agreed to lift restrictions on production, and instead ration out a portion of oil long enough to carry us through the current gas crisis and into the hands of new technologies. This was decided by a coalition of CEOs from the auto industry, health care industry, oil producing nations, and organic farmers. Dick Cheney ended up taking the lead on bridge building between the United States and the middle east and finally came out in the open and married the Arab mistress he’d been keeping all these years.