For those who belong to the military-industrial complex, perpetual war is a blessing, but for the majority of the people of the world it is a curse. Since we who oppose war are the vast majority, can we not make our wills felt?
John Scales Avery, Countercurrents.org
(September 7, 2012) Because the world spends roughly a trillion dollars each year on armaments, it follows that very many people make their living from war. This is the reason why it is correct to speak of war as a social, political and economic institution, and also one of the main reasons why war persists, although everyone realizes that it is the cause of much of the suffering of humanity.
We know that war is madness, but it persists. We know that it threatens the survival of our species, but it persists, entrenched in the attitudes of historians, newspaper editors and television producers, entrenched in the methods by which politicians finance their campaigns, and entrenched in the financial power of arms manufacturers – entrenched also in the ponderous and costly hardware of war, the fleets of warships, bombers, tanks, nuclear missiles and so on.
Related:
Nygaard Notes #511 | “The New American Way of War” in the Media, Jeff Nygaard, Nygaard Notes
- “The new American way of war” is but a new strategy in service to a very old goal, which is the maintenance of the global U.S. military hegemony that began after World War II and took on new life with the demise of its only perceived rival, the Soviet Union, 20 years ago.
- Special Project | The Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, & Iran: Week of July 29
