END OF THE AGE OF WAR

Another very significant change occurred in the economic sphere. For thousands of years, almost the entire economy was dependent on agriculture. In other words, it was a land-based economy. Those who owned land were considered wealthy and powerful, while those who were landless were considered poor and powerless. Further, under the ancient political system, the monarch and those whom he had granted land-grants to were considered to be the actual owners of the land. In such a situation, for a person with great economic ambitions, there seemed to be only one way to satisfy his desires—and that was to fight with the owners of the land and grab their land. In this regard a person who had no land had just two choices—either to remain content with being landless or to fight against the owners of the land and try to grab their land. In the modern age, a major development completely transformed this situation, and that is what is called the Industrial Revolution. Because of this revolution, today innumerable new economic means and opportunities have become available, utilizing which a person can make great economic progress. Even without becoming a landowner he can become economically wealthy. This change is so massive and significant that it can, without any exaggeration, be called an ‘economic explosion’. It has completely transformed the entire political and economic scenario. Things that earlier seemed impossible have now become completely possible. Things that earlier appeared merely imaginary have now become a practical reality. The age of political and economic monopoly has come to a complete and final end. After this revolutionary change, there is now no excuse left for anyone to go to war. A person or group or country can now obtain their economic or political objectives by availing of the vastly expanded opportunities that have now been made possible, using peaceful means alone. In such a situation, there is no need for war at all. War and violence would now only indicate a complete lack of awareness of the ample possibilities that are today available for obtaining one’s objectives using peaceful means alone. Today, war has been rendered utterly ineffective and useless in terms of producing any positive results. The world has come to realize the inefficacy of war to obtain the desired objective. In this age, talking about war has become anachronistic and obsolete. This is an age of peace.