Caring for Peace: Rethinking Humanity’s Next Evolution
045. From Wounded Soldiers to Global Communities: Jeffrey Charles Hardy on Caring for Peace
Peace is often spoken about as an abstract goal. We imagine it as a fragile ceasefire between wars, or as an aspirational ideal to be pursued by political leaders, humanitarian organisations, and international institutions. But what if peace were not distant or abstract at all? What if peace could be cultivated in the very act of caring for one another?
This is the central conviction of Jeff Hardy, founder of Care for Peace. His journey—from serving as a United States Coast Guard Hospital Corpsman during the Vietnam War to founding community health and development centres in Myanmar—offers a compelling reminder that peace is not only a matter of treaties or politics. It begins in relationships.
From Healing Wounds to Finding Peace
Jeff’s story begins in the 1960s. As a Corpsman, he treated soldiers returning from Vietnam—men bearing everything from snake bites and broken bones to gunshot wounds. Amidst the chaos and suffering, he noticed something profound: both he and those he treated experienced a sense of calm when care was given. “Through care, you can attain peace,” he explains.
This insight became the seed for Care for Peace, a foundation dedicated to cultivating peace through healthcare, education, and community development. Over time, the idea evolved from a personal discovery into a guiding philosophy and a global initiative.
Clinics as Microcosms of Cooperation
The foundation’s work in Nigeria and Myanmar demonstrates how this philosophy takes shape in practice. In Nigeria, Jeff advised the governor of River State on building clinics staffed by people from diverse ethnic and tribal backgrounds—an intentional design in a society often fractured by division. These clinics became not only centres of healing, but also living examples of cooperation across deep social divides.
In Myanmar, Care for Peace partnered with the government to build rural health and development centres. These were not grand hospitals in urban centres, but simple facilities in remote villages where need was greatest. Each clinic was designed with community in mind, embodying the principle that healthcare must be rooted in local realities while simultaneously modelling peaceful coexistence.
The Second Human Evolution
Jeff’s vision does not end with rural clinics. He situates his work within what he calls the “Second Human Evolution.” Unlike the Holocene or Anthropocene—terms describing geological epochs—this concept refers specifically to humanity’s own trajectory.
He describes three stages:
The First Human Evolution – beginning 2.5 million years ago and extending into the mid-20th century, defined by what Jeff terms “killing for peace.”
Suspended Human Evolution – the present moment, where wars and crises persist but growing awareness signals the need for change.
The Second Human Evolution – a future yet to be realised, in which peace is actively planned and cultivated through global collaboration.
For Jeff, the critical step now is pre-planning. Just as in healthcare facility design—where doctors, nurses, engineers, and community members gather to articulate needs before drawing blueprints—humanity must first learn how to plan together. The process itself, he argues, is the solution.
Peace as Active and Relational
One of Jeff’s most striking insights is his description of peace not as a static condition, but as a dynamic, relational practice. It is experienced when care is given and received. Nurses feel it in their work with patients. Parents feel it in caring for children. Communities feel it when working together to meet shared needs.
Peace, then, is not only a matter of politics or international negotiations. It is relational, extending from the self, to others, and ultimately to the environment. Jeff’s book, To Care for Peace: A Global Mandate to Secure the Second Human Evolution in Perpetuity, expands this vision through templates that guide individuals and communities in integrating care for peace across personal, relational, and environmental dimensions.
At its core, Jeff insists, much of this is common sense. Development has too often been a hierarchical, top-down endeavour. But by centring communities, listening to diverse voices, and committing to relational care, a different path is possible. This is not only a more humane approach—it is also a more sustainable one.
The lesson is simple yet profound: care generates peace. And if peace is to be more than a fleeting ideal, it must be cultivated daily—through relationships, through communities, and through intentional planning for humanity’s future.