“The Moral Equivalent of War”

Jun 18, 2008 Posted by Arun Inbavazhvu

William James’ “The Moral Equivalent of War” is thought to be part of the beginnings of the national service movement.  By substituting war with a “moral equivalent,” James seeks to replicate the same sense of patriotism, honor, and sense of duty that comes from the military without all of the bloodshed.  In this way James believes the country can preserve itself as a viable nation.  The modern interpretation of this “moral equivalent of war” is a war against all that is wrong, unjust, and unbalanced within the nation and the world itself, such as poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, natural disasters, and many other problems.  It should come to very little surprise that when John F. Kennedy announced in 1961 on the steps of the University of Michigan the creation of a federal agency with the goal of battling these problems all across the world, he chose to call the agency the Peace Corps.  As national service is interpreted to be a substitute for war, such follows that the Peace Corps could be a substitute for, perhaps, the Marine Corps.  Thus follows the creation of Clinton’s AmeriCorps and Bush’s Freedom Corps.  Naming these national service agencies in this way directly attributes the equivalency of their purpose and nature to the war making of the Army, Navy, or Air Force just as William James described.  Today national service programs still think of their volunteer forces as “troops” that can be “deployed” to certain issue areas to solve problems in the nation and around the world, just as military troops are deployed to fight enemies.  It is a concept that has functioned well for the national service movement, and leads and will continue to lead to active civic engagement without bloodshed.

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william james, national service movement, origins (all tags)

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