While skepticism in human nature today seems absolutely warranted, the reality is most people in the world are quite peaceful. Consciously or unconsciously, the vast majority of humankind believes in some form of "live and let live", under the thousands of different cultural labels we are coached to ignorantly fear. Truthfully, any alien life forms trying to understand our planet would clearly see what our lifelong indoctrination has blinded us to: No country has actually ever declared war on another. Bankers, businessmen and politicians do- then rely on our trained nationalist obedience to make us kill each other for them. Their reasons are increasingly proven false, misrepresented, and have made orchestrating consent from sponsored media narratives a fundamental part of living in this "civilized society".
Like children brought up in a family cult, Americans are immersed in Normalized Insanity. Two-mile-wide explosion from our latest bomb? That's Strength, Sending a Message, Fighting Terrorism, Protecting Freedom, or whatever latest focus-grouped buzzwords conveniently marginalize human life without accepting due blame. Whenever those we have been forced to acknowledge as proven liars start ranting about Chemical Weapons, or show footage of dead babies, suddenly attacking another nation is portrayed as justified, even necessary. Not that any of the countries we fight have ever done on our turf what we do to theirs- but mass cognitive dissonance has long since morphed "defense" into "offense" and "freedom fighters" into "radical terrorists". By the current "logic", our founding fathers were also terrorists.
The government and military pay millions each year trying to generate American Pride in a populace increasingly left without representation or resources. The ideals we're supposedly defending ring hollow as public support hits record lows and private legislative influence hits record highs- how is this democracy? How does dropping bombs on "foreign terrorists" in tents defend our freedom here? It doesn't. We are not uniting with the rest of the world against some mad dictator like Hitler (though the media will always spin it that way to generate false approval). We are using an almost unlimited military force to gain resources and power. We're knocking down countries to rebuild them in puppet form, in our own consumer-capitalist image. That's what we're fighting for overseas. That's all War is really about.
Another insight aliens may have from the outside looking in invokes shades of Ender's Game: who the Enemy really is. A few thousand miles up, and the perspective becomes much different. Imagine seeing this world full of people trying just to live comfortably, surrounded by armed personnel who take orders from a select few. The actual percentages of Warmongers vs the peaceful is an incredibly lopsided ratio; the only reason for continued war is that those who keep profiting from them use that wealth to retain power over the many. Superdelegates. Lobbyists. SuperPACS. Even record childhood poverty while billions go toward elections. There is no longer representation for the majority, since both failed minority parties have legally maneuvered to prevent any. This is who we've entrusted to tell us who to kill?
With all due respect, having our survival depend on capitalist greed has killed any real or imagined American moral superiority. I am not against this country or its citizens by speaking unpleasant truths about it; advocating for a course correction toward a legitimate government of, by, and for the people is quite possibly the most patriotic or noble thing anyone could do these days. Representing business instead of We the People constitutes as a violation of any oath of office. Protecting and benefiting from an unjust system of class privilege and debt slavery is simply domestic terrorism. Using the public defense forces as tools for imperialist conquest is traitorous barbarism, no matter how normalized, and multiple historical presidents have said so. Momentarily embrace humanity, and say it with me: War IS Terror.
If the goal is to save as many lives as possible, then it's our own government which needs stopping, not another one overseas conveniently housing oil or gold. If the purpose of government is representing the people, the task becomes replacing ours with one that can. If the American dream is one of freedom, justice and prosperity for all, it stands to reason that those in power getting rich off domestic mass poverty and subjugation are those we must overcome- not whoever their enemies are abroad. Because that's the biggest deception. Rational Americans do not want war. Nor does Russia on the whole, or even Syrians. Fundamentally, what humankind wants is to live peacefully; either we fight the political terrorists here at home in suits and ties... or accept their orders to become global terrorists ourselves.