Peace is cheaper

Chloe Cabatuan | Writer

March 20, 2026

The definition of peace is the act of nonviolence and cooperation. However, as far as anyone can see, that isn’t an accurate description of America today. War is costly, not just for the economies it destroys, but for the lives it destroys.

As of Wednesday, March 18, 2026, the United States has spent $11.3 billion dollars towards the war in Iran, which is an overwhelming amount of money to the average person. However, to represent that, it would be 1/76th of Elon Musk’s current net worth of approximately $839 B. Still, that means nothing to most people. A billion one-dollar bills stacked on top of each other would be roughly 70 miles tall, so $11.3 B would be 767 miles tall, or 140 times the height of Mount Everest. If you counted 11.3 B seconds, it would take you roughly 358 years. It is an absurd amount of money spent towards destruction rather than attempts at pacifism. According to Feeding America, the national average cost per meal in 2024 was $3.59, so if the money put towards this war were spent towards feeding the homeless population in America (771,480 people), every single person would be able to eat three meals a day for 3.82 years!

$11,300,000,000 spent in roughly 18 days, 6,000 miles away, in a war that the Director of the United States National Counter Terrorism Center, Joe Kent, had resigned in protest over, believing that the “Tehran regime posed no imminent threat and the joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign was unnecessary.”(NBC) He made it clear that the choice to engage in this war was for President Trump’s personal agenda and not so much to fight for a noble cause.

When following the Just War Theory, which explains the strict criteria to justify a war, the key principles follow: having a just cause, which could be for protecting human rights or in an act of self-defense, being a last resort after all peaceful alternatives have been tried, having the right intention to correct injustice, not for territorial gain or vengeance, having reasonable chance of success without excessive damage, and proportionality to the injury caused by the other party. Although it is far too late to consider whether a war should start, instead of whether the war had just causes and actions. Trump’s administration started the war in order to prevent nuclear weapons and to protect its allies, and that it did, with Trump claiming that “we obliterated their nuclear capability”(CNN).

Now, in response, Iran has cut off the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway to prevent oil from reaching the U.S. and Israel. Trump’s administration “attempted” peace through a foreign policy strategy called “Maximum Pressure,” which is aimed to force Iran to renegotiate, but simultaneously was preparing his military for a major strike. Not to mention the losses caused during this war, where many hospitals and schools were victims of air strikes, causing thousands of deaths, injuries, and millions of displacements in Iran alone. Under the International Humanitarian Law, civilian casualties are justified under proportionality and military necessity. How does targeting schools and hospitals benefit anyone? Not to mention that war is declared between the president and Congress through checks and balances, so when the president launches a war without congressional approval, it violates constitutional war powers, marking this war as needless and worsening global economic conditions without a clear, positive long-term outcome. Yet, the U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, is seeking an additional $200 billion fund for the war.

In a peaceful world, there exists a stable environment and economic growth is boosted through stronger trade relations, more investment towards health and education, and giving businesses more confidence to plan for the long term without fear of capital destruction. In short, peace is the smarter choice for any country. Shouldn’t a country’s focus be on a stable economy, strong defense, and its citizens’ well-being? How can any of that be promised during wartime? “While Democrats and Republicans battle in Congress over how much support they’re willing to give to their citizens on everyday matters like funding for education and meal aid, our soldiers are dying in a war that the president promised would not happen,” said Iara Zulevich, a junior at San Clemente High School. It seems the president builds his statements to contradict himself later, where he campaigned against the U.S. involvement in future foreign wars and engaging in new ones in his “America First” foreign policy, often using the slogan of “Peace Through Strength,” the practical concept where a strong military acts as a deterrent, reducing the likelihood of war: ironic for a country that is already engaged in war in all but name.

If the government is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people, then why would it “spend $11 B on a pointless war that is hurting America more than it is helping it?” Holland Thomas questioned, a junior at SCHS. Peace is cheaper, smarter, safer, whatever you want to call it, because at the end of the day, the only thing we can do is unite to work towards a better world. After all, “peace” shouldn’t be decided by titles or wealth.