IF WE ONLY WILL
Ending America's addiction to violence
An increase in our military budget doesn’t correlate to an increase in national security. An increase in our police budget doesn’t correlate to increased safety on our streets.
What we need is an increase in the openness of our hearts and the sophistication of our thinking. Reliance on brute force as our primary mode of problem solving is not the way to end violence and war; it is the way to perpetuate a vicious cycle.
I look at the military the way I look at a surgeon. Does the United States need to have a surgeon on hand just in case? Absolutely. And should we have the best surgeon in the world? Yes we should. But a reasonable person tries to avoid surgery if possible. U.S. foreign policy, particularly U.S. military policy, is unduly influenced by financial lobbying on the part of the defense industry. Our $858 defense budget is is not an expression of good governance, but of corruption and obscene bloat. We must not accept this reality as an established normal we cannot change.
In addition, we are the world’s largest purveyor of military activity; we have 750 military installations in over 80 countries. In addition, we’re the world’s largest exporters of arms. The U.S. is dripping in militaristic madness and it is time to break the chain.
Regarding our police, the United States has a lot to learn from other countries - places where the training of police officers is far more extensive, a lot less permissive of the use of lethal force, and much more focused on ways to de-escalate conflict. Much of the money that now goes to police would best be spent on social workers and experts in conflict resolution. The transformation of American law enforcement over the last few years from peace keeping force to militarized police force is dangerous to our democracy and tragic for our citizens.
As President I will establish a U.S. Department of Peace. The Department will harness the powers of peace building, particularly among women and children, to transform both our domestic and international landscapes. I will establish a Presidential Commission to create a restructuring of law enforcement, drawing together experts from throughout the country who have proven results in pursuing a better way. In many ways, we know what to do… we just need to do it! Check out some fascinating data in Connecticut over the last few years.
What we need more than anything is the political will - the personal will among ourselves - to make it all happen. We must arise from our complacency and weariness and show up fully, even passionately, for the moment in which we live.
This is not a time to tinker with the status quo; it is time to re-imagine America. We must cut the cord that binds us to a sclerotic, corrupt establishment that puts brute force before peace creation, the treatment of symptoms before addressing cause, and fear before love.
We can. If we only will…
I learned today our federal government subsidizes the fossil-fuel industry even more than defense spending--using our tax dollars for credits, loans, incentives, and tax breaks! These two interlocking sectors have extraordinary power. The people must demand quick action and not tinker while they destroy our only home planet! Marianne is the only candidate with the moral fiber willing to stand up to them and modify our tax codes against handouts to the already super wealthy destroyers.
If it were only that simple. The media is saturated with violence at every turn, and the current generation has grown up on it in their faces, as normal. Turn on TV and there are guns, violence, hate, murder and meanness at every turn. We need to teach love and kindness first, show by example. Without that understanding, people won't get it. And people wonder why kids turn to violence. That's what they're taught via media and video games. And those kids become adult politicians....or prisoners. Or both.