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So, should we give up attempts at economic reform? Should we abandon any efforts at alliance with our neighbors and just go it alone? The Bush administration appears to be doing just that, putting all its eggs into the War on Terrorism basket, which has gained a few short term successes, but is looking increasingly if-fy in the long run. We haven't caught the major bad guys yet, despite Bush's repeated...and increasingly boring...assurances that "we're gonna get 'em." Meanwhile, support in the rest of the world seems to be waning as they see us moving toward Wars of Vengeance against Iraq, Iran or North Korea...the Axis of Evil.
So, wouldn't you rather redirect some of our national energy toward forging a true Northern Hemispheric political/economic alliance. This will require granting a lot more respect to our Mexican and Canadian neighbors, both for their political and their economic systems. So, how about doing what the Europeans have already done? Indeed, wouldn't you rather go even further? Wouldn't you rather try to get Russia to join in? In a previous article (see: Bold Strokes), we suggested that the U.S. buy Siberia from Russia, much as we bought Alaska from them in a previous era (Seward's Folly). But, suppose the Siberians don't want to become Americans at a stroke of a pen. Or, maybe Russian national pride simply would not allow such a deal.
Then wouldn't you rather extend the Northern Hemispheric Alliance to include Russia? China might also want to join, but that is unlikely given their distaste for both Russians and Americans. Such an alliance would provide new opportunities for both the citizens and the productive enterprises of all participating countries. Such a bloc, containing only the first four countries, would have a combined population of 558 million, a land area of 14.6 million square miles and an annual gross domestic product of nearly 13 TRILLION dollars (source: CIA World Factbook). Lookout Europe and China...here we come!
Note that an alliance containing both Russia and the U.S. has everything necessary...RIGHT NOW...to accomplish this task within ten years. Furthermore, even when they were the Evil Empire, we were able to cooperate with them in space projects. All that is lacking now is the will. But wait, we're too busy trying to find ways to capture and/or kill bin Laden and Hussein to worry about such lofty ideas.
That latter course involves no force and no money whatsoever. But, it is hardly ever mentioned (except by Arabs) since we would be "abandoning" our good "friend" Israel. Friend? With friends like that...
What if we started to redirect our wealth and energy away from armaments and toward building and growing things? For years, we have been pouring huge sums into "research" by weapons makers. Wouldn't you rather dedicate all these funds to improving the world, to creating a real climate for peace? A manned mission to Mars would probably be regarded as a tremendous "waste" of resources by many, just as the Moon mission was in the sixties. So, wouldn't you rather put it into raising the amount of food, education, health care and shelter available to the poorest of the poor in the world? Nor does the government have to fund all of these efforts. Just putting its honor and prestige behind voluntary efforts of our and other rich country's people could go a long way toward accomplishing this. Or, how about simply funding research into how to accomplish these goals? For example, it is well known that there is adequate food supplies NOW to feed everybody in the world. The problem is distribution. But, the cost of one Happy Meal a week...donated by the overweight and pampered citizens of the advanced nations of the world...would be more than enough to solve that problem...IF we had a plan!
Bill Gates has personally donated enough money to vaccinate millions of third world children against childhood ailments. He has also donated millions of dollars to libraries and schools to increase their computerization. Why does the government not use its influence to encourage far more of this? Bill Gates is just one person, albeit a very wealthy one. It is relatively inexpensive for the government to use its copious propaganda resources to influence many imitators...perhaps even YOU.
We tend to think of health in terms of exotic heart operations, expensive medications and million dollar plus CAT scanners and MRI devices. But to much of the world, vaccinations, pure water supplies and older, cheaper medicines are more than adequate to double, triple or quadruple their medical system's effectiveness, their life expectancy...and do it virtually overnight. Of course, many others beside us have pointed out just what could be purchased for the cost of just one B2 bomber. Most of these others, however, want to simply redirect the funds from the Department of Defense to some form of foreign aid. What we are advocating costs far less and involves the government only as a motivating force, not the ultimate decision maker of all policy coming from the advanced nations of the world, and certainly not as the only source of wealth and influence.
We believe that the U.S....by simply changing its emphasis away from War on This and War on That toward Peace Here and Peace There...could change the entire world for the better. Furthermore, such a change would go a long way toward disarming the terrorists on whose capture and/or death we are now spending literally millions per-capita-terrorist! After all, it was not the invading crusaders who changed the world in the Middle Ages, at least not directly. With the sole exception of the First Crusade, which surprised the Islamic world in its ferocity...barbarians can be VERY effective warriors...and which led to the only defeat of the Islam in the crusades...all others resulted in defeat for the invaders. But, the wealth and knowledge of the Muslims which the defeated armies carried back to Europe sparked the Renaissance in the Christian empires and, ironically, the eventual dominance of those cultures over the rest of the world. Couldn't we pull a reversal of that historical event at the present time, sending the defeated terrorists home with a vision of what could be...rather than death and destruction forever and ever? Of course, as it is, the only message we are sending with our overwhelming military superiority is "we're gonna getcha!"
We think it is time for another peace movement. We believe the time is ripe to pull together all the peace loving people of the world into a global movement toward peace and prosperity rather than piecemeal efforts to stop this or that conflict. And the tools have also arrived. In fact, you are reading this article using the primary tool...the Net! What the Internet does best is form communities. How about some of you bright boys and girls out there figuring out how we can use it for this noble purpose? The cost of NOT doing so may be much, much more than we currently imagine.
Talk to you later...
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