{"id":11725,"date":"2018-10-18T12:37:16","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T12:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:#clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/?p=11725"},"modified":"2022-11-11T22:16:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-12T03:16:02","slug":"getting_beyond_war_and_militarism_the_to_do_list_1725","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/articles\/getting_beyond_war_and_militarism_the_to_do_list_1725\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Beyond War and Militarism: The \u201cTo-Do\u201d List"},"content":{"rendered":"

Violence begets violence. War profits only the few, the rich, the powerful\u2014the 1%. As moral beings and tax paying citizens we must vigorously oppose war. Especially those wars of aggression perpetrated by the US<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> and its allies and proxies. These mostly occur in or near the Islamic oil lands (Gaza<\/st1:city>, Iraq<\/st1:country-region>, Afghanistan<\/st1:country-region>, Yemen<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>).<\/p>\n

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If we are to live authentically, we must oppose resource war and war for corporate profit. War industry lobbying (Lockheed Martin) and election buying corrupt our Congress, our Executive Branch and any legitimate defense force. War dehumanizes the \u201cother.\u201d It dehumanizes and disempowers us as well.<\/p>\n

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War diverts unimaginably vast federal tax funds from their most worthy function: meeting human needs\u2014feeding, housing, schooling, healthcare, infrastructure. And disaster relief\u2014these days so criminally paltry (Puerto Rico<\/st1:place>).<\/p>\n

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War solves no legitimate problem; war spawns problems. War impoverishes, erodes democracy, undermines law. War targets civilians, creates refugees and triggers ethnic cleansing. War encourages rape, maims bodies and minds (veterans\u2019 PTSD), cheapens life. War spurs environmental devastation (Viet Nam<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>) and climate disaster. Nuclear war risks nuclear winter and, with it, the extinction of the human species.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not only must we oppose war, we must oppose militarism<\/i>: the incessant search for enemies, the incessant preparation for war, the saturation of our economy and culture with martial values and vested interests in war.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Must Be Done <\/span>(personally and policy-wise)<\/p>\n

1. replace toxic with renewable energy.<\/p>\n

2. avoid dependence on the war economy.<\/p>\n

3. expose the Main Stream Media\u2019s unholy alliance with militarism. The corporate media reflexively align with military policy. The MSM generate fear, normalize violence, villainize rival powers, gloss over war crime.<\/p>\n

4. \u201ctake a knee\u201d against nationalism\/exceptionalism\u2014major enablers of war.<\/p>\n

5. stamp out racism\u2014also a major enabler of war (end the \u201cnew Jim Crow,\u201d de-militarize the police, abolish the prison\/industrial complex).<\/p>\n

6. resist the Islamophobia that enables invasions and genocide (Yemen<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>).<\/p>\n

7. end US<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> military aid and exports to any invading nation or entity (Saudi Arabia\/Yemen, Israel\/Palestine).<\/p>\n

8. abolish nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

9. abolish weaponized drones.<\/p>\n

10. stop deploying mercenaries.<\/p>\n

11. negotiate in good faith with adversaries.<\/p>\n

12. expose the phony \u201cwar on terrorism\u201d\u2014that war of<\/i> terrorism (a.k.a. state terrorism)\u2014cynically keeping the pot boiling.<\/p>\n

13. withdraw US and NATO forces from Iraq<\/st1:country-region>, Afghanistan<\/st1:country-region> and Eastern Europe<\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

14. withdraw clandestine US<\/st1:country-region> special forces\u2014officially 70,000 in about 80 countries\u2014from the continents they infest (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America<\/st1:place>).<\/p>\n

15. dismantle US military bases menacing rival economic systems (Venezuela<\/st1:country-region>, Russia<\/st1:country-region>, China<\/st1:country-region>, Iran<\/st1:country-region>, North Korea<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>).<\/p>\n

16. dismantle the myriad, redundant domestic military bases not necessary for defending our borders.<\/p>\n

17. finance the reconstruction of those nations that US bombs destroyed; compensate the victims (1950s North Korea<\/st1:country-region>, Viet Nam<\/st1:country-region> north and south, Laos<\/st1:country-region>, Iraq<\/st1:country-region>, Libya<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>).<\/p>\n

18. avoid lifestyle pitfalls (addictions, distractions, consumerism, co-optation, debt). These impede our capacity to speak out, to take risks, to ratchet up our resistance.<\/p>\n

19. build solidarity with kindred\u2014and sometimes not so kindred\u2014spirits. Get beyond our bubbles, our turfs, our siloes.<\/p>\n

20. cultivate and promote critical thinking. Overcome obliviousness and compartmentalization<\/i>. The compartmentalized mind is a colonized mind. People of good will here often bemoan the lack of federal funding for domestic needs. Yet many refuse to acknowledge\u2014much less oppose\u2014the elephantine impact US<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> military spending has at home. Such needs, if addressed, would provide more employment and security than high-tech war industries do.<\/p>\n

21. overhaul corporate campaign spending regulations. Slash the Pentagon budget<\/i>. Doing so will boost most of the foregoing initiatives. Doing so will impede this nation\u2019s mounting decay and insolvency.<\/p>\n

22. become a war tax resister.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our ultimate mission: \u201cachieving just peace globally by abolishing war and militarism.\u201d Okay, we\u2019re unlikely to achieve that utopian goal. But work on these \u201ccan-do\u201d campaigns has a huge payoff: reducing human suffering, plus empowering ourselves and others. We can\u2019t do everything, but we can do something. Each of us needs to do what we can, with what we have, where we are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What more authentic way to live our lives than that?<\/p>\n

 <\/i><\/p>\n

We welcome you to join the conversation\u2014contact Carol Baum at carol@peacecouncil.net for a coffee\/tea\/conversation date with committee members.<\/i><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Violence begets violence. War profits only the few, the rich, the powerful\u2014the 1%. As moral beings and tax paying citizens we must vigorously oppose war. Especially those wars of aggression perpetrated by the US and its allies and proxies. These mostly occur in or near the Islamic oil lands (Gaza,…<\/p>\n

Learn More<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-11725","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/11725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clients.elainemichele.com\/SPC2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}