Category: US Economy

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Every war the U.S. has fought since World War II was a war of choice. None of them were necessary. They represent a colossal waste of money and human lives. The U.S. has had no real adversary since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. Yet, over the last thirty-two years, it has spent over $17 trillion on its military, fighting conflicts it didn’t need to fight, buying military junk it didn’t need, building hundreds of bases around the world which only serve to create animosity and chaos. Now the U.S. government is over $34 trillion in debt. The American public likewise is awash in debt, to the tune of $18 trillion. The message of this book is simply this . . .

War is making us poor! War is destroying us as a people. War is bankrupting our country politically, spiritually, socially, and economically. Peace is not possible without ousting and replacing the power-drunk, empire-building, war-crazed lunatics now in control of our foreign policy and military institutions.

WAR IS MAKING US POOR! is not more analysis and whining. It offers specific things we can do to head off catastrophe — the end of America as a functioning nation — which is inevitable unless we as a country and society force a 180º change in our foreign and military policies.

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Follow the logic. It is straightforward and reality based.

1 ) If you are reading this knowing it’s about promoting peace, you are a decent, kind, admirable person. 2) I believe I am too. Most of us try to be. 3) I sincerely believe that there are tens of thousands of us, that regardless of political stripe, there are a lot of good, well-meaning, compassionate people in America. However, 4) the people now in power don’t share our values. The people in control love war, are drunk on their power, convinced of their own infallibility, believe in their hearts in military aggression and conquest. Hence, the constant war. 5) The people now in power do not and will not ever listen to what the good decent people in our country have to say, what our priorities are, what our solutions to war and conflict are. They only give lip service to democracy and the dismiss the “will of the people” with contempt.

[ If you don’t agree with all of the above, you should probably stop here. ]

THEREFORE, here is my practical, actionable proposal for beginning to seriously challenge the war machine, and to ultimately reverse America’s forever wars and military expansion: 

There is only one sensible, rational, effective course of action. Current U.S. leadership, at all levels — we’re probably looking at 99% of those now in positions of power — MUST BE REPLACED. This is the only possible way to stop U.S. aggression and wanton promotion of chaos and violence in the world.

This MUST BE THE ENTIRE FOCUS OF PEACE ACTIVISM going forward. We have no choice in the matter. The record is clear — an unblemished record of total failure to stop, or even slow down, the war machine.

The two major parties will not give us the choices we need to make. Both the Republicans and Democrats are in the pockets of the military-industrial complex. And to bolster their commitment to this vast money laundering enterprise, where hundreds of billions of dollars end up in the coffers of giant defense companies and ultimately into the bank accounts of the ultra-wealthy, both major parties are fanatically committed to endlessly expanding our military might and making the U.S. an empire.

If we want peace, we will have to elect peace candidates. And to elect peace candidates, WE MUST BY OUR OWN INITIATIVE PUT PEACE CANDIDATES ON THE BALLOT.

Identifying and choosing alternatives to the pro-war establishment candidates will not be complicated. At least for now, here’s the litmus test, consisting of three questions to be put to prospective candidates:

[ Here is an explanation of PEACE DOLLARS. ]

If a candidate answers ‘yes’ to all three, he or she deserves our full support and our vote. We then do everything it takes to get this person on the ballot. There are three ways to do this:

First option is to use primaries. That is, run them in the next primary against one of the major party candidates.

Second option is to run the candidates as “third party”, e.g. as a Green or Libertarian or other minor party candidate.

Third option is to put them on the ballot as an independent.

Whatever strategy we adopt certainly will require some serious dedication and hard work. We’ll have to organize locally and talk to voters face-to-face, we’ll have to marshal all of the power of social media, we’ll have to badger local media for news coverage. We’ll have to organize rallies and bake sales, visit churches, convalescent homes, community clubs and other organizations.

But recognize: THIS IS DEMOCRACY AT ITS BEST! It is citizens, locally, community-by-community, working together to signal their priorities, put their values before the public, and introduce REAL CHOICE at the polls.

Once peace candidates are on the ballot, then it’s up to the voting public. If we the people want to end the wars, reverse the rampant militarization of our society, if we truly want peace, then . . .

WE ONLY VOTE FOR PEACE CANDIDATES!

It’s that simple.

WE ARE GENUINELY LOOKING FORWARD TO CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS.