vision2020
Re: ain't gonna pay for war no more
Visionaries,
On Sunday, September 1, 2002, at 12:29 PM, Sharon Sullivan wrote:
"Since we're discussing putting your 'money where your mouth is', let's look at "where your income taxes really go". See www.warresisters.org\piechart.htm to see that 46% of current U.S. tax revenue goes to support the military... "
...and this is bad why?
Don't you have a television set? Or a radio, or a newspaper subscription? We are approaching the anniversary of the worst attack on the United States in our history---much worse, in terms of casualties than Pearl Harbor in 1941. Thousands of innocent civilians going about their daily routine in the largest, most important city in our nation were burned to death, blown to pieces and horribly injured by suiciding Islamic terrorists in hijacked airliners.
Comrades of those people are on record as wanting to do that, or even something more heinous, to the people of America again, and as often as they can manage it.
You can go demonstrate for world peace, and hold hands, and sing Kumbaya if you want to, but having seen most of the world in my 21 years in military uniform, and realizing that it is a tough place, I prefer to put my money on a strong defense, and into the training and equipping of people willing to put their lives on the line to protect this noble experiment in democracy that has been the shining beacon on a hill for most of the world since the late 1700's.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote: "We sleep secure in our beds at night because, somewhere in the world, rough men are awake and willing to do violence to protect us." He was right.
Fortunately, we live in a country that is rich and strong, and can afford, because we have a strong military establishment that is willing to give their lives in our defense, to keep pacifists in our society as pets. But don't think for a minute, whether you like it or not, that there are not "rough men" out there somewhere making it possible for you to exercise your violence-secured First Amendment right to post pacifist nonsense on Vision 2020.
Regards,
Don Kaag
Visionaries,
Since we're discussing putting your 'money where your mouth is', let's look at "where your income taxes really go". See www.warresisters.org\piechart.htm to see that 46% of current U.S. tax revenue goes to support the military. Note that this website includes the accounting details and exact dollar amounts that are spent, and for what...it's worth a visit.
If we had a ballot system for tax dollars so we all can vote where the revenue goes, I doubt most citizens would grant the military the huge chunk it currently consumes. Yet I predict most citizens would gladly pass some more cash toward our 'godless' schools. My personal faith impels me to opt out of this massive focus on violence and put more toward social services. By Doug's reasoning, then, I should not be forced to pay for the military, as it forwards an essential moral/religious agenda that killing and domination is acceptable.
Yet, if paying for government services were optional, much of our population would lack basic services. As in privatized health care in the U.S.: 43 million Americans cannot afford health insurance and are effectively denied access to care. More than half of these individuals are the "working poor" and work more than 45 hours a week. Using this same system to run the post office, would 43 million Americans not receive mail service?
It seems odd that our society should balk at funding the basic needs of all people due to the insatiable preferences of some for waging war, or for sending their children to Christian schools, for that matter. It is just part of the deal that for all people to access services, all people must pay, even if they don't use these services.
In Lesotho, Southern Africa (where i lived from 1990-94) no public funding existed for schools. All the schools available were affiliated with missionary groups or organized religions. Students paid school fees to attend, but only children from advantaged families could afford the tuition, uniform, books, etc...leaving most of the population uneducated. Moreover, most of the buildings save for those affiliated with the 'big' religions such as Roman Catholic were decrepit and lacking even the most basic features such as doors, windows, running water, and often desks. While providing education to some where previousIy no one had educational opportunity is not my complaint, the system offered selective opportunities based largely on financial status.
I fear that if there was not a baseline level of funding for public education supported by all taxpayers, a large segment of our society would be left out of the loop, and schools associated with minority faiths or social affiliations would be comparably underfunded due to the economies of scale.
Until I can vote to send most of the 46% of my tax dollar to services other than the military, then Doug W. will have to send his 32% to fund "human resources" which includes all social services, public schools among them.
Respectfully,
Sharon Sullivan
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