Main cause of conflict

This is in response to "Prevent another Korean War," letter by Kurt Becker, April 17.

The primary cause of conflict in this world is well known. The addiction recovery literature calls it "Self-will run riot," and the solution is to "Practice unselfish acts."

Alcoholism and drug addiction have always been considered hopeless conditions. Everyone I've talked to over the last 45 years has said that "War is inevitable, and there's nothing you can do." That's a hopeless condition!

If we decided to shorten life spans by stopping the suppression of influenza, out of respect for other creatures and future generations, it would establish the principle of unselfishness worldwide, and so

would address the main cause of conflict, just as addiction recovery has already done for the last 80 years.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 10:12 AM with the headline "Main cause of conflict."