Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it compromises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes...known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few...No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare. -James Madison, 1795
World military expenditure in 2010 is estimated to have reached $1.62 trillion in current dollars. (Global Issues, 2011)
The USA with its massive spending budget, is the principal determinant of the current world trend, and its military expenditure now accounts for just under half of the world total, at 43% of the world total. (Global Issues, 2011)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A Conflict Without End
The title you read is the title to an article, an editorial of The New York Times May 16. So disturbing is this piece that I quote the entire opening chapter for you.
"Osama bin Laden had been dead only a few days when House Republicans began their efforts to expand, rather than contract, the war on terror. Not content with the president's wide-ranging powers to pursue the archcriminals of Sept. 11, 2001, Republicans want to authorize the military to pursue virtually anyone suspected of terrorism, anywhere on earth, from now to the end of time." (The New York Times, 2011)
Far-fetched? Irrational? Impossible? I thought so. But, since 2001 actually, I've come to the consclusion that nothing is impossible for our all-knowing and all-powerful lawmakers. Is it me or is there just simply no oversight? Is it me or does it seem like, literally, they will just do whatever they want to do with absolutely no regard for you and me, the citizens that elect them and that they purport to "work for".
Granted I've done no research. I'm jumping the gun because I'm jaded, yes. I pulled up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, however I cannot make heads or tails of it. What do I know? I'm not a politician; the thing is in their language, not in ours. I do know that there's a-whole-heckuva-lot-of money in that bill. Billions and billions of dollars; I did see those figures. And where there is a-whole-heckuva-lot-of money there's an enormous incentive to keep the status quo. T'ain't that raght? It's human nature people.
What we lost in 2001, and even before that, we will never get back. Benjamin Franklin said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
He also said, and I say to you, "There never was a good war or a bad peace."
"Osama bin Laden had been dead only a few days when House Republicans began their efforts to expand, rather than contract, the war on terror. Not content with the president's wide-ranging powers to pursue the archcriminals of Sept. 11, 2001, Republicans want to authorize the military to pursue virtually anyone suspected of terrorism, anywhere on earth, from now to the end of time." (The New York Times, 2011)
Far-fetched? Irrational? Impossible? I thought so. But, since 2001 actually, I've come to the consclusion that nothing is impossible for our all-knowing and all-powerful lawmakers. Is it me or is there just simply no oversight? Is it me or does it seem like, literally, they will just do whatever they want to do with absolutely no regard for you and me, the citizens that elect them and that they purport to "work for".
Granted I've done no research. I'm jumping the gun because I'm jaded, yes. I pulled up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, however I cannot make heads or tails of it. What do I know? I'm not a politician; the thing is in their language, not in ours. I do know that there's a-whole-heckuva-lot-of money in that bill. Billions and billions of dollars; I did see those figures. And where there is a-whole-heckuva-lot-of money there's an enormous incentive to keep the status quo. T'ain't that raght? It's human nature people.
What we lost in 2001, and even before that, we will never get back. Benjamin Franklin said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
He also said, and I say to you, "There never was a good war or a bad peace."
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