I saw a movie on Friday night that really got to me. It's called "Why we fight" and it is based on militarism in the US and US foreign policy. We've been talking in conflict transformation about how people often react negatively and shut down when they feel like something about their own identity is being threatened. We also talked in another class about how often people say it is "human nature" to avoid or be threatened by the "different" or the "unknown" and, yet, how there's hundreds of examples that demonstrate how that is not really true. In his book, Privilege, Power and Difference, Johnson notes that "Scientists, psychotherapists, inventors, novelists (and their fans), explorers, philosophers, spiritualists, anthropologists, and the just plain curious are all drawn toward the mystery of what they don't know" (Johnson, 16, 2001). It is dangerous to begin to talk about "human nature" especially when we only base our ideas on what our own experiences reveal. Clearly, that would be the most logical place to start, but the way people think or behave often has just as much to do with how they are brought up to behave or think as whatever they "naturally" would. It is revealing to go to other parts of the country or the world, where the assumptions we had made about "human nature" or the way people live are totally negated.
What is scary to me about a culture of militarism and imperialism is that it takes excess- the unnecessary- at the cost of others' basic needs and justifies it with rhetoric about "national interest" or "national security." I truly question these words. The United States of America already possesses more nuclear arms than any other country on Earth- enough to blow the entire world up several times over. Why- when people are going without health care, when school districts can't "afford" to pay teachers a reasonable salary and provide enough resources for students, when people go hungry, go without basic dignity, are we spending billions and billions of dollars funding the potential destruction of the world several times over? Sometimes I feel so simple, like a small child asking her father, "but why does the US government want to blow the world up Daddy?" Why would they invest so many resources in sheer destructive potential? Will that protect us? Will us being able to destroy the earth 5 times protect us? Are these weapons going to destroy everyone else but not us? Can we really think we're immune?
And then to think it's not just national security concerns or questions about preserving democracy. It's not about that at all. There are huge contracts tied into the production of weapons. Essentially, war makes people rich. The United States spends more on defense than ALL OTHER BUDGETS COMBINED. We arguably have the most powerful economy on earth, enough weapons to destroy the earth several times over- who are we defending ourselves from? And why do we think that our security lies in military force? Probably because that's what we're "led to believe" because of rhetoric, but the people telling us this are salespeople, in business, just like people that sell you a car or a cell phone. Why are we so much more skeptical of people selling us a new TV set than of our national leaders who we are responsible to hold accountable? Our tax money is funding their business of the mass production of unnecessary military equipment and arms. And why? Because major corporations fund campaigns much more effectively than school teachers. Our representatives can't "afford" to tell us the truth. Our government has too much at stake.
I feel so disillusioned to find that my beautiful country, full of democracy and voice and liberty and justice for all is killing people to make a profit and all the people I love, with me, are standing by because we either don't know about it or simply choose to ignore what we do know or what we could know because it makes us feel horrible. It hurts to the core of who we think we are and we don't know what to do about it...So, we just deny it. Instead of going to rent a documentary or look up alternative news sources or trying to get closer to the truth, we pretend it's going to go away. We continue to believe the "military-industrial" complex that Eisenhower warned us of, hasn't arisen yet, and, if it has, that at least it won't touch us. It won't affect OUR lives and OUR children. Well, it has and it is and it absolutely will. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to one another." Do we have what we would consider real peace in our lives? Do we always remember the truth that God gave us to one another? This world is getting smaller by the day. Every action our government takes represents us, the people of the United States, to the rest of the world. We have to educate ourselves about what is going on, what others' experiences are, where we can cut excess in government spending for destructive purposes and in our own lives. We must learn to live simply so that others may simply live.
I recommend renting the films: "Why we fight" and "Arms for the Poor"(about US militarism) "Broken Rainbow" (about Native Americans), "Down and Out in America" (about poverty in the US) just think about the messages- consider that they might have some truth... Maybe they aren't "feel good" films, but taking time to be "uncomfortable" can move us closer to living lives of love than we may realize. My parents taught me that true committment and true love is not always about what "feels good." Their lessons stay with me to this day.
What is scary to me about a culture of militarism and imperialism is that it takes excess- the unnecessary- at the cost of others' basic needs and justifies it with rhetoric about "national interest" or "national security." I truly question these words. The United States of America already possesses more nuclear arms than any other country on Earth- enough to blow the entire world up several times over. Why- when people are going without health care, when school districts can't "afford" to pay teachers a reasonable salary and provide enough resources for students, when people go hungry, go without basic dignity, are we spending billions and billions of dollars funding the potential destruction of the world several times over? Sometimes I feel so simple, like a small child asking her father, "but why does the US government want to blow the world up Daddy?" Why would they invest so many resources in sheer destructive potential? Will that protect us? Will us being able to destroy the earth 5 times protect us? Are these weapons going to destroy everyone else but not us? Can we really think we're immune?
And then to think it's not just national security concerns or questions about preserving democracy. It's not about that at all. There are huge contracts tied into the production of weapons. Essentially, war makes people rich. The United States spends more on defense than ALL OTHER BUDGETS COMBINED. We arguably have the most powerful economy on earth, enough weapons to destroy the earth several times over- who are we defending ourselves from? And why do we think that our security lies in military force? Probably because that's what we're "led to believe" because of rhetoric, but the people telling us this are salespeople, in business, just like people that sell you a car or a cell phone. Why are we so much more skeptical of people selling us a new TV set than of our national leaders who we are responsible to hold accountable? Our tax money is funding their business of the mass production of unnecessary military equipment and arms. And why? Because major corporations fund campaigns much more effectively than school teachers. Our representatives can't "afford" to tell us the truth. Our government has too much at stake.
I feel so disillusioned to find that my beautiful country, full of democracy and voice and liberty and justice for all is killing people to make a profit and all the people I love, with me, are standing by because we either don't know about it or simply choose to ignore what we do know or what we could know because it makes us feel horrible. It hurts to the core of who we think we are and we don't know what to do about it...So, we just deny it. Instead of going to rent a documentary or look up alternative news sources or trying to get closer to the truth, we pretend it's going to go away. We continue to believe the "military-industrial" complex that Eisenhower warned us of, hasn't arisen yet, and, if it has, that at least it won't touch us. It won't affect OUR lives and OUR children. Well, it has and it is and it absolutely will. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to one another." Do we have what we would consider real peace in our lives? Do we always remember the truth that God gave us to one another? This world is getting smaller by the day. Every action our government takes represents us, the people of the United States, to the rest of the world. We have to educate ourselves about what is going on, what others' experiences are, where we can cut excess in government spending for destructive purposes and in our own lives. We must learn to live simply so that others may simply live.
I recommend renting the films: "Why we fight" and "Arms for the Poor"(about US militarism) "Broken Rainbow" (about Native Americans), "Down and Out in America" (about poverty in the US) just think about the messages- consider that they might have some truth... Maybe they aren't "feel good" films, but taking time to be "uncomfortable" can move us closer to living lives of love than we may realize. My parents taught me that true committment and true love is not always about what "feels good." Their lessons stay with me to this day.
No comments:
Post a Comment