Finding hope in a dreadful future

Economic, social and environmental justice-AND-a world of peace.

This is what we’re fighting for.

I'm against war for the cruelty, inhumanity, moral corruption and injustice of it. But those aren't my only reasons. War is also expensive and distracting. It's not like we don't have better and more pressing matters with which to concern ourselves: climate change being the big one, but there are so many other logical and sane priorities to address as well. Take your pick. From racism to prison reform to income inequality, etc. Virtually all of which, imho, would benefit from peace and that long dreamed of peace dividend. With peace we would have a wealth of resources to apply elsewhere. (Not to minimize the challenges that would remain.)

Climate change is already catastrophic and will only get worse. THAT should be our focus, not bogus wars for profit.

Fiddling while Rome burns. It's what we do. This is a distraction so destructive that it amounts to a national/global psychosis and could well mean the end of us all.

As a society we accept this as the way of things, or many of us do. Okay, I get it, we're a 'warrior nation.' But the way in which 'the way of things' is exploited by the armaments industry is deeply disturbing and not something to be swept under the rug or accepted without the most rigorous scrutiny. And it does not bear scrutiny. It stinks. It stinks on ice. It amounts to conducting war, that is bringing hell on earth to people like you and me, for the sheer profit of it.

It’s what Eisenhower warned us about.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Dwight D. Eisenhower  

Ignoring the moral dimensions of our actions, is itself a moral choice. Moral choices are unavoidable in this realm. Recognizing that is wisdom.

We may need to reexamine some of the choices we have made. We definitely need to get our priorities in order. And we should start by disavowing war for profit.

Imagine if we had invested all of those trillions of dollars in our own country and people. What could we have had for all that money? Free education and healthcare for all? Infrastructure repairs, climate change action, who knows?

It’s time we find out.

We need to stop letting them rob us like this.

Srsly ppl, this is what we’re known for around the world. How can any of us be okay with this?

Cheney’s Halliburton pocketed $39.5 Billion. Halliburton and Cheney: War Profiteers in Chief Fight to Keep Their Wallets Fat

Halliburton woke up Friday, determined to debunk a film by Robert Greenwald that it has not seen. You have to wonder just what Halliburton’s CEO and department of agitation and propaganda are thinking. The reaction to Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is similar to CEO David Lesar’s ads in which he says that Halliburton is doing a great job in Iraq: Both are without first hand knowledge, based on fantasy and hearsay.

It’s worth pausing to recall the insidious nature of Halliburton’s role in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. As with so much related to the Bush/Cheney Administration, the truth is stranger than fiction. We did not need Oliver Stone for this one; Robert Greenwald’s fact-based documentary tells it better than any novelist could imagine.

They did all of these horrible things for a cheap profit motive, and there were no consequences. That wouldn’t happen in a democracy or nation of laws.

Greed reigns. Until it doesn’t.

“We won’t fight another rich man’s war.” History will not ignore these war crimes.

All so unnecessary. Rich men sending other people’s children to war to enrich themselves.

Eisenhower knew war and he was deeply troubled by the future he saw coming.

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

Dwight D. Eisenhower  

We’ve come a long way down the path that Eisenhower warned us against. In a warrior culture full of elements constantly agitating for more war, and in these turbulent times, Bernie is the voice of sanity.

“Give peace a chance.” ~ Bernie Sanders

Eisenhower was right. There’s no way around it. Either you accept or approve of a society deeply invested in waging war for profit or you don’t. If you don’t, you know what to do. Give peace a chance.

Moral choices are unavoidable in this realm.