Re-Consider Warfare – Young Daffwold's Almanack

This video covers one of the three proposals introduced in my video “Change the Power Structure“, which is in turn part of my “9 Point Agenda For Counter-Revolution“

More information on the “9 Point agenda for Counter-Revolution”

Why should we reconsider warfare?
Well let's break it down into three reasons.
First, human considerations.
Second, because reconsidering warfare is in our national interest.
And third, because warfare is obsolete.

Let's look at the human considerations which argue in favor of reconsidering warfare.

Warfare has always been destructive. And it is becoming more so.

It is a waste of resources, and it is a waste of human lives.

The resources could be put to more constructive use,
and the human lives are irreplaceable. Not only are they irreplaceable, they are our future.

Because most of the lives lost in war are young people who have not yet made their contribution to society.
The songwriter Phil Ochs said it well:
it's always the old who lead us to the war. always the young who fall.

And I'm not just talking about those who are killed.
Many of the returnees are broken in body or broken in mind.
They will never be able to lead as fulfilling lives as they might have, had war not intervened.
Or make the contributions to society which they might have.

So there are human considerations which argue in favor of reconsidering warfare. But another good reason is that this reconsideration is in our national interest.

The pentagon is in the pockets of the corporations who build weapons and provide many other services to the Armed Forces.

Dwight David Eisenhower, who was both a successful president and a successful general, warned us about this.
As he left office said: "in the councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military industrial complex."
'We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes."

He was right.
And he was prescient.
Today all aspects of military policy and budget are influenced profoundly by private corporations.
And decisions are often made which benefit the corporations though not necessarily the interests of our nation.

And high-ranking officers are often far too friendly with the executives of those corporations.

We waste our wealth. Spending much too much on weaponry which is often of dubious value.

The real danger of invasion or severe damage done to the United States by some other nation is minuscule compared to other dangers which we face as a nation and a people and upon which we spend nothing or a pittance.

The amount of this waste is astonishing.
In 2018 our military budget was $643 billion.
The next highest of any nation was China which, even though they have a lot of catching up to do, only spent $168 billion.
No one else in the world spent more than $83 billion.

Russia, which through espionage, has greatly increased its stature in the world, usually at our expense,
only spent $63 billion on its military. Less than one tenth of the money we threw at the pentagon.

Another president, Jimmy Carter, called us the most warlike nation in the history of the world.

In support of this, he pointed out that since 1980 China has been at war for zero years. During that time the United States has been almost constantly at war.

We initiate unnecessary wars, which damage our reputation with the rest of humanity while also damaging our own people.
And we damage our economy, our position in the world, and even our health.

The Iraq war, a completely unnecessary enterprise, cost $5.9 trillion.
And all we accomplished was to inflame the Middle East,
kill a lot of human beings,
make ourselves a lot of enemies, disrupt the oil industry,
and do huge ecological damage.

Warfare, the way we've been spending money on it, is clearly contrary to our national interest.

And finally, war is obsolete.

At this point in history it has become fatal to human existence.

Because today the ultimate weapon cannot be used without destroying everything. There is no way to win.

If total war ever breaks out between nuclear armed nations, all humanity, and perhaps all earth life will lose.

War is bad for humanity, it is bad for the United States, and it is obsolete.

So what do we do about it? How do we reconsider warfare.

I propose a three part program.
1 – report reality
2 – rethink our strategic position
3 – redesign our military.

Large portions of our defense budget are secret, and much of our expenditure isn't even included in the budget. This is not only undemocratic, but it is an invitation to the corruption which has indeed ensued.

I think we have to report reality.
We need to make our actual total military budget transparent and available to the American people.
It needs to be published so that the citizens can understand what we are spending and what we are getting for our money.

Once we have reported reality, we can rethink our strategic position.
We can have a public discussion of war plans, placing everything on the table.

What do we want to stand for as a nation?
What are the realistic threats that we face in the world?
How can we meet the real needs of our defense more efficiently?

And once we have started asking those questions is a people, we can begin the redesign of our military.

I think this ought to be done by a special committee.
I recommend that committee members be appointed by the president and confirmed by both houses of Congress.

And that the committee be composed of:
members of Congress
retired military, 50% officers and 50% enlisted.
And career diplomats.
It should be stipulated that no participant may have any financial relationship with any defense contractor.

We do need to defend our people and their rights. And as long as this is a world composed of competing nation states we will need some form of defense.

But we do not need an overwhelming military power designed to maintain an oppressive Empire.

We do not need to waste our precious resources on the military industrial complex which does nothing to expand human rights or create a better future for our children.

And we do not need to send our young citizens into harms way simply to protect the profits of corporations and the privileges of aristocracies.

The Defense Department and the sector of our economy which it supports has been given practically unlimited funding with no transparency, or accountability.

With all that power has come massive corruption and abuse.
We the people cannot effectively change the power structure of our nation without reconsidering warfare and the power center devoted to it.

It is time to reconsider warfare. It is bad for humanity, bad for the United States, and obsolete.

Reconsidering warfare is one of three proposals for changing the power structure which I have recommended in other videos. The others are refocusing tax policy, and reforming corporations.