I'm reviewing some stuff I wrote earlier. This was at the start of the Iraq war, but it's still true--only peace seems more distant than ever.

What is PEACE? As we hope for a positive outcome from this war and yet understand that many people world-wide oppose it, I think that we all must consider what does World Peace look like?

While the stated objectives of this war are clear, and I support them, I wish the objectives of the peace movement were somewhere near as clear. I’m not talking about pacifists who oppose the use of force in any circumstance. I find them admirable but naïve. I am talking more generally about how does a world look when it accommodates differences in moral values and economic need? It’s easy to rally around a stance of “No War”, but what are the alternatives in a world where so many have nothing to lose and everything to gain from the use of force?

I’ve often heard, “Dictatorship is the most efficient form of government—if you are the dictator”. It’s easier to trade with a nation when you only have to do business with a few people at the top. It’s comfortable to live in a country where everyone thinks like you do or you know the rules and how to live around them. Change is unsettling. We (the world’s people) begin to tolerate the abuse of the different in the interest of stability. We confuse stability with peace.

If any good is to come out of this war, we must insist that it truly is “liberating”. We must insist that the United States stands for a world view that no longer tolerates oppressive abuse by an overwhelmingly powerful interest. Terrorists don’t believe it is possible to end oppression without military force, and I’m not sure it is, either. Obviously, we differ on how and where that force is applied.

The peace movement believes that armed conflict is not necessary, and I’m more than willing to learn how. What will the world look like when we don’t have to use force? How does that work? How do we get there? What do we do about all the injustices we still live with in this world? Gandhi and Martin Luther King both had an idea, but obviously the result played out with less lingering animosity and certainly less armed conflict in the United States than it did on the Indian sub-continent.

It’s great for organizers to call out thousands for a march, but where is the peace? What we need is action that leads toward results. We need a vision of what else can be done to bring the world into collaboration on how to begin to/continue to live comfortably on this small planet. The reinvigorated peace movement has our attention. There are lots of “peaceless” spots besides Iraq. Show us what to do so that we don’t have to resort to war again.

Stimulus Watching

Is the Stimulus Plan just a way for Congress to pay back their donors? I'm not sure, but I'm watching.

To satisfy the "tax cut" side of things, I propose that individuals be allowed to buy mortgages in forclosure, write off the cost of "paying down" to meet market prices and take 1/2 of the income tax free for the life of the loan. This would allow private money to be invested in the root of our national financial crisis, strengthen home ownership, & divert investment to tangibles.

The spending plan should slow down and contain more things that pass a reality check. There is nothing that says that congress can't pass more legislation, but lets not burden this promising new administration with items that will haunt them as time goes by. Some of the funding may have merit in other contexts, but will it produce jobs, improve national infrastructure or education?