Peace on Earth

You know what’s amazing? Companies like UPS or FedEx. A package coming to me from California has barely left the place of origin and I already know when it will arrive. I get live updates on its whereabouts just by clicking on some screen. It is carried by an intricate network of hubs, routes, drivers, pilots, night shift managers, Excel spreadsheet monitors, and hardware inspectors. Smart people teamed up to create this reliable system because waiting several weeks for a package is so last century. Now it only takes two days or, if I wanted to pay extra, I could get it overnight.

Coming from an arts background, I always thought that the driving forces in advancing the culture around the world were the arts and philosophy, but an audio course on the survey of world civilizations has convincingly shown me that it is actually international trade. It’s all these hubs, Silk Routes, donkey riders, jetliner pilots, and cargo ship captains. But more than that, it is the mutual trust in the system that requires a large investment in civility and stability. This little package of mine is advancing peace on earth at this very moment. Will get here on Thursday by 8:00 pm EST.