Militarism Threatens All Humanity
By Jim Sawyer, WPSR Member, Nuclear Weapons Task Force
US military spending continues to spiral, expand, explode and there is no end in sight. Sadly this fiscal insanity is rarely challenged or contested by our governing political establishment. This damning reality showcases the impact of militarism in modern American life. How pervasive is militarism? Militarism has woven its way into every facet of American culture and is seldom commented on. This is not hyperbole or exaggeration but is in fact an understatement for where we are at as a nation. How many Americans can list the nations that the United States is at war with and is currently bombing? How many Senators and members of congress can accurately tell us the total number of US military bases worldwide; or the locations for this global network of bases? You could not find one Senator or congress member who can answer this.
What Americans have to come to terms with is the threat that uncontested US militarism presents to all humankind. Consider that 3% of US military spending could end all global hunger. Acknowledge the reality that US military spending is the single biggest contributor to Global climate catastrophe and environmental destruction in the world. US militarism is the driving force, behind the 6th great extinction that we are now in the midst of. President Eisenhower in his famous 1960 farewell address warned us about the threat of the “military industrial complex.” Ike is not rolling over in his grave now- he is doing cartwheels.
The only force that has a chance of countering and rolling back the militarism that has poisoned both our culture and political press is active political action and democratic participation. We have to meet head on and with passion discredit the misguided notion that endless military spending and expansionism somehow safeguards the country when the exact opposite is true. Reasoned people need to collectively cast light on this a problem that left unaddressed will eventually lead to endless global conflict and inevitably nuclear extinction. The choice is ours. It’s not too late to act on and rally behind the wisdom of President Eisenhower.