Invest in Sharing and Caring

Nobody loves war but the arms-maker, which begs the question why the separate ideas of Joseph Nye Jr. ’58 and David Patton ’52 are not yet merged, mixed, and married (Lives Lived and Lost, February issue). Mr. Nye coined the term “soft power” and Mr. Paton pioneered the concept for a flying teaching hospital of ophthalmology.

Mr. Nye (“the dean of political science”), defined soft power as “the ability to achieve your goals ... because people in other countries find your ideas attractive, identify with your culture, and follow your example.” Mr. Paton’s concept became Orbis International, training over a thousand foreign doctors in its first year of service. That initial aircraft was called “the best example of functional diplomacy ... ever seen.”

Which leads one to wonder why no administration of our federal government has considered one less squadron of F35 fighter aircraft, or one less battalion of M1 Abrams battle tanks in order to support two or three hospital ships, or medical teaching airframes, to share U.S. medical expertise globally.

Continued investment in nuclear weapons for use against other nations will only lead to the eventual (and disastrous) use of one such item. Alternatively, gradual and incremental investment in sharing-and-caring for peoples of other nations may eventually end wars altogether. In the words of the old bromide, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”