[PAA-Discuss] Occupy the Pentagon

[Ron and Kris Graham]

Excellent, Ed. Thank you.

Kris

  _____  

From: Ed O'Rourke [mailto:eorourke at pdq.net] 
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 11:17 AM
To: discuss at paa-tx.org
Subject: [PAA-Discuss] Occupy the Pentagon

 

Occupy the Pentagon  

Yes magazine is looking to serve a think tank for the Occupy Wall Street
movement.  See many articles here:

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/occupywallstreet

Many other institutions deserve occupying.   Untouched to this moment is the
self-serving defense establishment. When the Soviet Union fell, the defense
establishment invented a new villain, Saddam Hussein. When he invaded Iraq,
the US cheered him on.  When he invaded Kuwait, he became evil overnight. 

Humans must end war or war will end us and all life on our planet.  This is
not just an idea from hippies and Quakers.  See this plea from General
Douglas MacArthur when he spoke to the US Congress on April 19, 1951:

"I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more
revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very
destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of
settling international disputes... 

"Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn
failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter
destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative. We have had our last
chance. If we will not devise some greater and more equitable system, our
Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and
involves a spiritual recrudescence, an improvement of human character that
will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art,
literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past two
thousand years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh." 

Since the Pentagon is a welfare state for defense contractors, I propose the
following actions to protect national security from the only threat that
counts, global warming:

1) reduce the bloated US military budget by 90%, 

2) tax international arms sales,
3) begin a  moratorium on weapons research,
4) start a world-wide anti-poverty program,
5) train our armed forces for disaster relief,
6) establishing a cabinet level Department of Peace,
7) reduce nuclear weapons to zero, and,
8) negotiate to take all the world's nuclear weapons off hair trigger alert.


Note that each proposal can become a bumper sticker.  I invite progressives
to copy the excellent communication skills demonstrated by right-wingers,
who have done well with simple slogans. People can instantly understand what
right-wingers want. 

Environmentalists as a group have been indifferent to military spending.  I
hope they wake up for two reasons: 1) a nuclear war will end our
civilization in an afternoon and 2) the resources devoted to the military
means crumbs off the table for everything else.  We all want cleaner energy
and reverse global warming but all this achieves little as long as the
military goes full speed ahead.

Progressives must recognize the awesome sales job made by government
propaganda that war is necessary and glorious, like a football game.  The
war sport is like mountain climbing or deep sea diving, far more dangerous
than everyday life.  As in a football game, we root for our side to win
because a defeat would bring catastrophic consequences.  In World War Two, a
victory by the Axis Powers would have brought slavery for all and
extermination for many.

As a teenager (born in 1944), I saw war as a great adventure.  Of course, a
fellow could get killed.  In the comic books, movies and documentaries, I
did not see burn victims nor injured soldiers who lost limbs.  Dead soldiers
looked like they were asleep.

The best war propaganda ever made was the 1952 NBC series Victory at Sea.
The editors reviewed 11,000 miles of film, prepared a stirring musical score
and narrative making 26 episodes lasting about 26 minutes each.  Television
reviewers wondered who would want to watch war documentaries on a Sunday
afternoon.  By the second week, they got their answer: just about everybody.

On YouTube see the finale for the episode, Beneath the Southern Cross, which
described the successful efforts by the American and Brazilian navies to
protect convoys in the South Atlantic.  This is the ending narrative:

And the convoys come through,

Bearing the wealth of the Southern Hemisphere, 

Refusing to pay one cent for tribute but willing to spend millions for
defense,

The American republics have swept from the ocean highways of the South
Atlantic their common foe.

Spread wide across the sea

Guarded by the might of nations that can fight side by side because they
have learned to live side by side.

The ships stream toward their goal Allied victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku-uLV7Qups
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku-uLV7Qups&feature=related>
&feature=related

Progressives must offer a peace vision through songs, poems, short stories,
movies and plays.  Offer contests with some prize money and much
recognition. My favorite peace vision comes from the 1967 hit, Crystal Blue
Persuasion by Tommy James and the Shondells:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXz4gZQSfYQ

With courage and vision, humans can follow Isaiah by turning swords into
plowshares saving ourselves and life on our planet.

 

Ed O'Rourke

 

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