You’re onto something. Follow that thought. But clear up the way you think about “capitalism”. It’s not there.

Capitalism is merely a way of accurately accounting for energy transfers. Accurate accounting means everyone can agree on what is happening, so there’s no need to argue and, hence, peace rules. So why does capitalism appear to be at the center of all this violence?

Enter the Nation-State: an institution explicitly based on violence and coercion. Capitalism keeps producing the manifold benefits that famously flow from accurate accounting, but it must bow to and adapt to the coercive and corrupting forces of the State — an organization granted the power to do whatever it wants without having to account for the consequences. Bombing children in far-off lands, for example.

The State says “I want guns”, and capitalism produces them. The State says “You must come to me for permission to do what produces the most profitable results for your owners”, and capitalism responds in the most expeditious way possible: infiltrating the State to assure that the needed permission are granted. The State provides a way to influence how taxpayer money is handed out? Corporations take advantage of it. Of course! It’s the cheapest route to profits!

It’s easy to conflate capitalism with the Nation-State because of the way the latter has corrupted the former, but to solve the problem they need to be seen separately for what they are. Capitalism in inherently peaceful; the Nation-State is inherently violent. To deal with the problem of violence (and injustice, and practically every other malaise currently infecting us), attention needs to be focused on its source, the Nation-State.