Leaders and thinkers from long ago have consistently provided us programmatic answers on how to build a better world. Some grounded-in-commonsense answers from King Arthur and his band of Roundtable Knights, Sun Tzu and his thoughtful warriors, and John Kennedy and his best and brightest are provided here.

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King Arthur & JFK's Camelot

Imagine a castle on a hill. A large dining hall with a large, sturdy roundtable made of rough-hewn lumber. Around it gathers several knights garnered in 12^th-century armor and often revealing themselves with mirth and good humor, but universally known for their strength, trustworthiness, nobility, and goodwill.

The knights of the roundtable were trained to serve and girded to fight, but only if forced to do so. Their leader pushed them and his nation to avoid wars by using their admired stature to plant the seeds of peace and goodwill, rather than reap the harvest of bloodshed.

Tranquility and happiness reigned supreme in the mythical, or perhaps real, 12^th century with King Arthur and his Round-the-Table team of peace-building and peace-insuring knights.

In the 20^th century, a grieving Jacqueline Kennedy pushed the world to believe that John Kennedy was pushing America closer to becoming the Camelot of the 20^th century.

How? Surround yourself with the best and brightest, challenge Americans to venture peacefully into new frontiers, remove us from the Vietnam quagmire, avoid a nuclear war over Cuba, establish a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, etc. But one JFK policy more than any other could have more rapidly and firmly built Camelot for America and the world -- the Peace Corps.

To accomplish this idealistic goal, he assigned good knight and brother-in-law Sarge Shriver, who like the Kennedys, from John through Edward, often reminded the world:

"I rather send the Peace Corps than the Marine Corps."

Former Senator Harris Wofford, who was instrumental in starting the Peace Corps, reminds us of JFK's Camelotian goals:

"He told me he wanted the Peace Corps to reach 100,000 a year," Wofford recalled. "He said it would then be considered serious. In one decade, it would reach 1 million volunteers."

What if Kennedy had had served two terms and had ingrained in Americans the belief that peaceful National Service was a better means of containing violent "isms" and avoiding warfare.

What if Kennedy's Peace Corp tradition so energized, and smarten the world that succeeding presidents were pushed to continue this New Frontier tradition?

What if other nations recognized the nobility, need, and goodwill generated from such service so that they also implemented such National Service programs?

Imagine how much closer Camelot would be for America and the world if, by 1971, a decade after starting the Peace Corps, a million Americans had served abroad as Kennedy hoped. Imagine if that noble and cost-effective army of good knights had served for the 46 ensuing years after that first decade of service to country and world. By now 5.6 million Peace Corps volunteers, rather than 220,000, would have bread goodwill, propelled peaceful international development, proven their strength, trustworthiness, nobility, and goodwill, and learned first-hand how the real-world works.

What would that have done for the betterment of "humanity"?

Would empathy, rather than antipathy, toward our fellow man have grown?

What happened instead?

These numbers neither include non-active duty military that were not deployed to the war-torn countries nor those sent on multiple deployments.

If JFK and King Arthur are looking down from a heavenly rocking chairs, they must be weeping in their beers.

Sun Tzu's China

Let's compare those legendary westerners to a legendary eastern military tactician and philosopher, Sun Tzu, whose training manual, The Art of War, drills home:

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."

Since our 1964 Gulf of Tonkin resolution that tricked us into the Vietnam War, how many Chinese troops had been deployed, lost their lives, inculcated their soldiers with PTSD, killed civilians, and bred more enemies? The number, in stark contrast to the civilians and soldiers killed on this page, is close to zero.

While the Iraq and Afghanistan wars approach seven trillion dollars in costs to the American taxpayer, with its returns-on-investment showing strong growth in PTSD, morphing of vengeful terrorist groups, and a precipitous decline in American stature; China will continue making investments in developed and developing economies at $1-2-trillion clip per decade that will continue building their corps of friends, allies, and resources.

In addition, Chinese:

- foreign direct investment into the U.S. hit a record $15.7 billion in 2015,

- buyers between 2010 and 2015 spent at least $93 billion on American residential property,

- companies and individuals also put up at least $17.1 billion in existing office buildings, hotels and other commercial buildings on U.S. soil

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-17/china-is-buying-its-way-into-the-us-economy

And China:

- has overtaken the US as the top destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), for the first time since 2003.

- and India has surpassed the US in renewable-energy production in 2017, thanks to the Trump administration's return to incentivizing coal production.

Do you think the Chinese are heeding their great warrior philosopher? Should we too?

"The greatest victory is that which requires no battle."
"- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

We are not at war with China nor should we be, but the moral and economic health of a nation depends on how smartly it invests its natural and human resources. When we invest our dollars in ingesting our soldiers with PTSD through trumped-up wars and weaponize our air with microscopic climate-weirding shrapnel, we're setting ourselves up for losing the war to Mother Nature and to a crazed future regime.

Olympian warfare

If nations want to battle for the hearts and minds of the world's citizens, let them do so by training their citizens to demonstrate their skills by serving the world in its peaceful development. Let the Olympics be an example of how nations ought to compete. Let King Arthur's celebratory Jousting of Knights Day be as close as nations move toward warfare.

In a smart nation and world, training well for warfare is as close as nations would get to war.

Let American dreamers lead the way with a one million strong American World Service Corps National Service (AWSCNS) program. Let there be an American-Chinese Peace Corps, America-Russian Peace Corps, etc. Model it after Congresswoman Boxer's HR 1807. Start winning Sun Tzu victories for the world "which requires no battle."

By practicing through robust national service, the act of "Keeping friends close and enemies closer," the world will more quickly and bloodlessly learn that we are all potential friends.

Imagine how much more bountiful even the rough-hewn round tables of the world would be, if far-sighted eastern and western philosophies meshed for the betterment of mankind."

Why not build things that should be... and let the spirit of Camelot reign?

By peacefully jousting with today's New Frontiers, let every nation strive for the peaceful beauty of Camelot and feel like they live in the Middle Kingdom.

Authors Website: http://peopleslobby.us/

Authors Bio:

Dwayne served in the Peace Corps in the slums of Mumbai, India, worked several Habitat Projects, and was on the start-up team of the California Conservation Corps. He has a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, has been a builder, teacher, political organizer, small businessman, affordable housing developer, and a rock-piler at Rubel's Castle. Some pics and stories at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

Some story tidbits about his recent well-regarded book about Rubel's Castle are available at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

In 2013 Rubelia was designated a National Historic Monument, right up there with Hearst Castle. CBS clip: Rubel's Castle is on verge of listing on National Registry http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/08/07/rubel-castle-in-glendora-on-the-verge-of-getting-national-historic-recognition/

Dwayne is presently Executive Director of People's Lobby Inc (PLI, 501c4)and People's Lobby's Education Foundation (PLEF, 501c3). You can read PLI's American World Service Corps Congressional Proposal (AWSC) at
http://peopleslobby.us/awsc-congressional-proposal

Rebuilding People'Lobby web site is available at http://peopleslobby.us/

Congresswoman Woolsey (D, CA) offered to introduce it in the 111th Congress, then retracted. Please contact your Congressional reps and ask them to become an original sponsor or cosponsor. The AWSC citizen-initiated congressional proposals could be, with you pushing your representatives, among the most significant legislation passed and implemented in decades. Imagine having 21 million Americans cost effectively doing good at home or abroad over the next 27 years.

In December 2009 Ralph Nader choose People's Lobby's book, "Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary, The Story of Ed & Joyce Koupal's People's Lobby" as one of the Ten Best Books to Read for 2009. You can purchase the book from PeoplesLobby.us or learn more at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/books.

"This country runs on laws. If you want to change the country, write its laws," People's Lobby's founders Ed and Joyce Koupal used to say. If you want to enlighten public policy, involve millions of Americans in addressing public needs, prepare for climate weirding, etc., help make it happen. The AWSC addresses with people action many of our most pressing and costly needs. To sign the reopened American World Service Corps petition/letter, which contacts Congress for you: Paste http://www.change.org/petitions/view/field_21_million_american_world_service_corps_volunteers_over_the_next_27_years
Please help make the AWSC happen. To learn more about People's Lobby, visit the web site at www.Peopleslobby.us.

Recent books both available on line and from publishers: Every Town Needs a Castle (Prelude to next book, Every Country Needs a World Service Corps)
http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia


Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary (Nader's 2009 TopTen Books to Read List)
http://peopleslobby.us/archives/736
Library: http://peopleslobby.us/organizations/peoples-lobby/library