[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster]
As the sickening urgency and excitement of war ripples across our consciousness once again (livetweets from a bombing run witness!), it would be very well to illuminate the various costs to all of us from this endless violence. Many are hidden, all insidiously destructive as a grim new war settles in.
Of course the incredible fortune expended just to start can boggle the mind, $30 million jets firing $750,000 missiles from a $4 billion ship. The first war in all this insanity was in 1990, in all that time a trillion dollars has been spent that easily could have turned the United States into an Eden, every city transformed by employment and investment, real education and healthcare blooming wondrous souls and citizens in a peaceful place.
Instead the looting of Detroit and pension plans implacably grinds on, but there are two other sick political facets to all this incredible spending for death, just where in the hell are all the irate deficit hawks ranting about spending?
Nowhere, of course, all that screaming and shouting about how we’re in debt was simply manipulative dishonesty so food stamps could be cut. Speaking of arguments made in bad faith, where are all those abortion zealots shouting about the sanctity of life? Absolutely silent, of course, they’re watching all this along with the deficit liars and not a peep is to be heard.
It’s been noted many times before but these authoritarian political actors are oblivious to how many lives they crush and the media endlessly brays forth their dishonesty, my god do not accept arguments in the future about deficit spending and the sanctity of life, finally know forever it’s manipulative lying by actors who know they’re being dishonest.
But, naturally, it can be easy to miss when cool techno-sexy jets roar forth, hostages are taken, ships move about, pretty widows weeping at funerals for heroes. War is such a wonderful distraction, such a useful tool for diverting focus and honesty.
How much continued fraying of the Democratic Party base will occur in this latest conflagration of futility? Ignored by the media and the Party leadership, there are in fact tens of millions of peace activists in the Party with a sizable minority representation in Congress, yet again we must take this monstrous slap in the face to our souls and principles but somehow still be good Democrats in our America. There is nowhere else to go.
Very true, but inevitably as the wars rage on and on and on more good souls of peace will drop out of the Party, for many at some point remaining will simply overwhelm their internal honesty thresholds, they won’t be able to know they’re souls of principle by staying Democrats and will walk away.
Or stop giving money or walking precincts or making calls or registering voters, war may yet give the Party a vote but so much more could have been utilized with peace.
Speaking of disheartenment, what has all this distraction of afterburner and splatted blood done to the soul and ebullience of the country? We could have been thinking about homeowner windmills or sexy new music or how to build a great school, but again with another war what we could have been just remains a heartbreaking mystery.
What, pray tell, is the final solution and payout for all this ceaseless violence? Nothing, my god not even nothing just more howling insanity of misery! It’s a fact, we started all this in 1990, the only delivery has been more war and violence.
Along with that other irksome issue of the middle east, it turns out the tree-huggers, those patchouli hippie environmentalists, where in fact outrageously correct all along, we have to stop burning the oil that is the very foundation for all this insanity. Millions marched in the streets Sunday fully committed to this truth, but leadership is oblivious with another war attempt.
Party and elite membership seem to think the American middle class and little people have a bottomless, endless well of good faith, resources and tenacious will. It just ain’t freaking so, things have degraded to the point where 40 million Americans live in poverty! Yet another war is supposed to somehow turn this around?
Continue this slow burn of war abuse on the country and things could very spin out of control at some point in ways we just can’t see, an America unrecognizable from a real republic at peace. We know how wrong it is in the present to keep up this endless insanity of war, but endlessly subjecting the country to it will inevitably transform us into a frightening, unknown place.