BY DONNA J. MOORE
Our nation is addicted to war and it’s leading to our destruction.
Our economy is largely based on war. Our government’s goals are driven by war. We train people for it and when they return from war many are so mentally damaged they cannot recover. We even condition children by exposing them to more and more violence in the form of movies and violent games.
Our addiction wastes the earth’s minerals used to fuel the machines that build the equipment for war. We’re robbing Mother Earth to pay for these “drugs” and the price for the “drugs” goes higher every day.
Meanwhile Mother Earth needs health care but we say there is no money for that.
The “Drug Dealers” are the corporate CEOs who demand more and more of our wealth to keep the war machines spinning: Machinery that is now spinning so out of control that no one seems to see it any more — like the wheels of a wagon in an old-time movie.
Because this war-addiction is so pervasive — and we are all so deeply imbedded in it — when we do get a glimpse of what is happening, many are afraid to speak out.
Recovering from addiction is done in one of two ways. One way is to stop “cold turkey.” That’s horribly painful. Many cannot do it alone or require being confined until they recover. That’s a pretty bleak prospect — but it could happen. Other cultures have been forced to change their negative ways by outside forces. Let’s hope we can stop ourselves before it comes to that.
The second way to stop is get over our denial.
When this happens in a family the first thing they do is protest: “Not me! Not in our family. We are the Good Guys. This can’t be happening.” The next step is asking questions like: “Where did we go wrong? Who is at fault?” But these are not the right questions. The right question is: “What do we do now?”
Right here in Kitsap County there is one critical thing we can do right now. We can pay more attention to the nuclear weapons system in our own back yard.
We need to ask serious questions about whether or not to replace this archaic system estimated to cost $113 billion just to build!
Just how willing are we to dig down into the taxpayers wallets in a time of austerity; a time when critical needs are unmet?
New Trident (both in the U.S. and the U.K.) will only serve to increase global proliferation of nuclear weapons while increasing the risk of nuclear war.
At this time of austerity, building a new generation of ballistic missile submarines is a flagrant waste of taxpayer dollars. It is also a clear violation of international humanitarian law, as well as article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Learn more about New Trident and find talking points at Ground Zero’s website: www.notnt.org.
Now is a perfect time to put the pressure on our elected officials to start paving the way to a nuclear weapons free world. Stopping Trident is an important starting point. No more silence!
Donna J. Moore is a retired federal employee who moved to Bainbridge Island in 1976 after many years serving abroad with the U.S. Department of State, as well as working on the War on Poverty in Washington, D.C. She has served on both the city planning commission and the 1 Percent for the Arts Committee and is active in Cedars UU Church.
