Cappy's Corner

WAR...THE END?

With all the talk about the end of the war, I couldn't help thinking about what would happen to all the men and women who returned from the war. I am a product of the 60's and 70's where we always protested war. I have always seen war as a useless way to resolve conflict. Not to mention the drain on the countries resources. If we ran our homes the same as the country, there would be families and communities killed because we didn't like the way they raised their kids.

 Granted people who do wrong should indeed be found and punished. How do we justify the killing of people who had nothing to do with the initial problem. Then we turn around and tell them how their country should be run. All people should start by taking care of themselves, those who can not should be helped, not with arrogance and war. Our country should not think that they are the shinning example to the world, because it is not. Freedom is not having someone else tell you what to do!

I can't help thinking about what we call the "Civilized World". As I wander back in time to the Neanderthals, are earliest man. Have we really progressed more than them? Besides standing on two feet and wearing clothing we still haven't moved forward enough to just be at peace with each other. Technology has advanced to amazing heights, the human intelligence is vast and always expanding. So why is that compassion and understanding have not reached this amazing level? This should be our goal, not murder. On a small scale we do it, the family unit for example, small communities manage to live a peaceful existence. Why can't we expand this to the world. When a catastrophe occurs, we all step up as a group from all over the world, we put together volunteers and money and take care of the needs of the victims. How about the tsunami in Asia, the worst in history, the world was there to lend a hand along with the earthquake in Haiti. Millions were donated and people were there to help. We did these things as people not governments, united by the need  to help and to just do the right thing.

I continue to think about the rise of unemployment and homelessness as our troops return. Thinking about where they would be had there been no conflict, and had all the trillions of dollars spent on this war remained home. I began doing research into this very thing and have found what you will read next:

Brown University Watson Institute for International Studies
© 2011 Watson Institute
Has this military spending created more jobs than other kinds of spending? Usually not. In fact, public funds would have created more jobs in the past decade if they had been invested in such industries or sectors as home weatherization, construction, healthcare, or education.


A million dollars of spending would create 15.5 jobs in public education, 14.3 jobs in healthcare, 12 jobs in home weatherization, or about the same number of jobs in various renewable energy technologies. A million dollars spent on construction (residential and non-residential structures) creates 11.1 direct and indirect jobs.


Investments in renewable energy such as solar, wind, or biomass, would create just as many jobs as military spending. Efficiency programs such as weatherization of homes and public buildings would create about 1.5 times as many jobs, and federal support for healthcare and education would create twice as many as the same level of military spending.


Alternatively, the federal government could have increased its support for energy efficiency programs such as weatherization of homes and public buildings, or increasing the infrastructure and operations for mass transit. $130 billion per year in these efficiency programs would have created a net increase of about 500,000 jobs each year. Spending in renewable energy programs would have created approximately the same number of jobs as the military, but would have contributed to combating climate change and building a more sustainable energy infrastructure.

Well, I think that says it all, doesn't it? These results are just this country, other countries would benefit the same and perhaps we wouldn't be in debt with a Communist country. I see that when we need something other political and social groups are willing to help, without conflict.

I have rambled enough for now, I really get worked up when I think about what is happening around me, even if I don't see it with my own eyes, how the world is effected. So many ways to resolve problems without war, lets see if our goal one day can indeed be "World Peace".

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