Letter from a Soldier

Over the years I have corresponded with an American who fought in the first Iraq War. We began writing because we share the same name, though we are not related. Just recently he wrote again, in response to my essay Speaking Truth to Trauma (TQE #156). His letter was moving and thoughtful, and stands powerfully on its own. I have therefore given this edition over to my friend's letter, in his own words and with his permission. — Loren Cobb, editor.

The Quaker Economist is a free electronic journal devoted to examining worldwide economic, social, and political problems as if people matter. It harks back to original Quaker beliefs in the validity and importance of the individual. Readers are cordially invited to send us brief commentary on these essays. We include an edited selection of these comments at the end of each essay.

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Masthead

Publisher: Russ Nelson, St. Lawrence Valley (NY) Friends Meeting.

Editor: Loren Cobb, a Friend from Boulder, CO.

Editorial Board:

Chuck Fager, Director, Quaker House, Fayetteville, NC.
Virginia Flagg, San Diego (CA) Friends Meeting.
Valerie Ireland, Boulder (CO) Friends Meeting.
Jack Powelson, Boulder (CO) Meeting of Friends.
Norval Reece, Newtown (PA) Friends Meeting.
William Rhoads, Germantown (PA) Monthly Meeting.
J.D. Von Pischke, a Friend from Reston, VA.
John Spears, Princeton (NJ) Friends Meeting.
Geoffrey Williams, Attender at New York Fifteenth Street Meeting.



The Quaker Economist was founded in 2001 by Jack Powelson, Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado, and a long-time member of the Boulder Friends Meeting. Jack continues to write essays for The Quaker Economist, and serves on the Editorial Board.

Prior to July 2002, this electronic journal was known as The Classic Liberal Quaker.

Jack Powelson

Loren Cobb
Since 2005 the editor and principal writer for The Quaker Economist has been Loren Cobb, an international consultant based in Louisville, Colorado. He describes himself as a Quaker with Buddhist tendencies, a pacifist who works with military organizations all over the world, a mathematician who prefers the social sciences to physics. His Erdös number is 4.

An interview with Loren Cobb on Pacifica Radio

A two-part interview with Loren Cobb on Spirit in Action

Useful and Interesting Links, with Commentary


Recent Articles
- Letter from a Soldier
- The Icelandic Free State
- The Decline of War
- Global Warming
- Corruption in America
- Speaking Truth to Trauma
- History and Future of World Energy
- Goodbye to Economic Man
- A World Without Authority
- Trust and Economic Development
- One Nation, Indivisible

- Energy Apocalypse?

- Ghosts of the Future

- Hurricane Katrina, Pt 2
- Hurricane Katrina: Consequences
- A Visit to the War on Drugs
- Corporate Corruption
- Globalization of Crime: El Salvador
- A Trusteeship for Zimbabwe?
- Zimbabwe: Background of the Crisis
Subject Indexes
- Economics Simply Explained
- Poverty
- International Development
- Globalization
- Energy & Environment
- Peace
- The War in Iraq
- The Future
- Governance & Corruption
- Politics & Current Affairs
- Contemporary Quakerism
- Memoirs of Jack Powelson
- Articulos en Español
Chronological Archives