Particularly relevant in light of recent events. Have we actually progressed so little in nearly 40 years?
"And the leaders of the world today talk eloquently about peace. Every time we drop our bombs in North Vietnam, President Johnson talks eloquently about peace. What is the problem? They are talking about peace as a distant goal, as an end we seek, but one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. All of this is saying that, in the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is preexistent in the means, and ultimately destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.- Martin Luther King, Jr., "A CHRISTMAS SERMON" 24 December 1967
WTF - I think you just offended every African-American person out there with your opening statement. So, I guess the ability for blacks to vote, have in interracial relationships, and equal opportunities in work and business (to name a few) means nothing, huh?
Alexander: Um, no, I meant that our leaders are no more enlightened now than they were when Dr. King made these comments almost four decades ago. We've made a lot of progress on the social liberties stage (not enough, IMO), but our progress towards seeing peace as both an end *and* the means (the point of the quotation) has been painfully limited.
Sorry, I misinterpreted the intent of your post. Now I see you were referring to war, not race relations and empowerment. It was kind of hard to tell where you were coming from, though.