We are about to start yet another war of aggression. This time it is the Iranians who we will bomb and later repay for the damage. The official justifications for this war are the popular “spreading democracy” and “fighting terrorism” claims. However, I think the real reason why our citizenship is allowing this to proceed is that many believe it will bring us out of this depression.

Even if this were ethically justified (which it is not – killing for money is wrong, no matter how much you need it), it still would not work. This is due to the concept of opportunity cost as well as unintended side effects. I urge you to read the Broken Window Fallacy. Essentially, when you blow something up in order to replace it, you lose not only the thing you destroyed but also what would have been created using the resources put into replacing it. These economic ideas are widely accepted by experts, yet it is seldom ever mentioned during discussions of war.

Waging war with Iran will make our economic problems worse. Acts of terrorism will likely increase, not decrease, as we kill the family members of young Iranians. With our bombardments destabilizing the region even further, terrorist cells will find it easy to recruit bereaved young people whose family have been killed by American bombs. They have nothing left to live for and are filled with hatred against the country responsible for their loss. The CIA calls this “blowback,” and they warned us about retaliation even before the 9/11 attacks occurred.

If you really want your country and your family to be more prosperous, stop allowing your government to destroy precious resources! Demand that your representatives cease the acts of aggression towards Iran. Do it to save lives, rescue precious resources from destruction, and prevent terrorism. Yes, that’s right. You can prevent people from hating you if you simply stop killing their family members. Imagine that.

If we can just make it another 30 years without killing each other, we can figure out how to harness fusion power (as well as some other cost-cutting technologies such as graphene and silicene), and the global economy will be much better off. The more we divert resources to war and wastefulness, the longer this will take. Stop fighting and work together! Let us set an example of peace and use what we have wisely.