Costa Rica is a wonderful place that has benefited from spending funds that used to go to maintaining the army on improving civil society. But this is not even

Costa Rica is a wonderful place that has benefited from spending funds that used to go to maintaining the army on improving civil society. But this is not even close to a pacifist success story. The army was abolished by the man who became president by winning a civil war. Costa Rica maintains armed forces to patrol the border, combat drug trafficking, and maintain internal order, as well as an armed police force. But they don’t call any of these things “armies”. They have a defense alliance with the United States. If another country tries to invade them, the US will use violence to defend them. Is it pacifism to depend on someone else’s willingness to sacrifice for you? Costa Rica only exists as a country because they successfully used violence to repel a private army raised by a US citizen who wanted to annex them to the US. Call me pessimistic if you want. I prefer to believe that I have a realistic view of the role of violence in the world.