Militarism and Violence are So Yesterday: It's Time to Make Peace the Reality

[marmar]

Militarism and Violence are So Yesterday: It's Time to Make Peace the Reality

Wednesday, 20 November 2013 09:42
By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Truthout | Opinion


Last week, in our article titled "Armed Drones Becoming the Norm? At the Crossroads of Robotic Warfare," we wrote about concerns that robotic warfare combined with the global "war on terror" was making violence the quick and easy way to respond to conflicts. We wondered whether the bloody 20th (and beginning of the 21st) century could be put behind us and if the time had come to move to an era of peaceful solutions.

Many factors make this an opportune time to move toward greater use of nonviolent practices. The most obvious, of course, is that the United States and the planet can no longer support American Empire and its endless wars. We cannot continue to spend more than $1 trillion each year on the military and national security state while the basic needs of our population are not being met and our domestic infrastructure is crumbling. The empire economy quite literally is killing us.

And our bloated military is not just killing us and others around the world, mostly innocent civilians, but it is killing the Earth, too. This report published by Project Censored calls the US Department of Defense the worst polluter on the planet. It states: "This impact includes uninhibited use of fossil fuels, massive creation of greenhouse gases, and extensive release of radioactive and chemical contaminants into the air, water, and soil." And that does not include the private military contractors and weapons industries.

The era of American Empire is coming to an end. The signs are everywhere. Latin-American countries are no longer tolerating bullying tactics by the United States. Obama failed in his attempt to attack Syria. The world leaders at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in October did not seem to mourn President Obama's absence at all. In fact, the failing Trans-Pacific Partnership shows that the United States is no longer in the driver's seat of the Pacific economy. And even former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski is lamenting "that American domination [is] no longer possible because of an accelerating social change. ... " ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/20146-militarism-and-violence-are-so-yesterday-its-time-to-make-peace-the-reality

[woo me with science]

1. K&R

Thank you.