Our Causes Are Connected, Our Movements Should Be TooBy David Swanson
Global corporations and international government alliances are pushing war, environmental destruction, economic
exploitation, defunding of schools and housing, hateful divisive ideologies, and reductions in rights and liberties as a
package wrapped in shiny foil, tied with a bow, and advertised in hundreds of different advertising media.
. . . and in this corner we have local and national organizations, segregated by race and other demographics, raising
pitiable sums to fund nonprofit work, each to work against one or another particular item out of the package.
Occasionally a movement will propose to take on two or three items at once but be shouted down with cries of “WHAT IS
YOUR ONE DEMAND!?”
In my view, not only was Thomas Jefferson right to list all of King George’s wrongs, not only was Martin Luther King Jr.
right to propose taking on militarism, racism, and extreme materialism all together, but the way to an effective
movement — not just a larger movement, but a coherent movement with a vision for a better future — is to go multi-issue,
big-tent, cross-border, and otherwise “intersectional.”
We’re facing environmental disaster. It might be mitigated by a massive investment in clean energy. The only possible
source of the kind of money needed is in the institution that is currently doing the most environmental damage — so,
taking its funding away serves a double purpose. I’m talking, of course, about the military, to which Trump’s budget
would give over 60% of discretionary spending. For what? For “stealing their oil” and “killing their families.” Once you
start opposing killing families, the remaining purpose for the military stands out as rather anti-environmental.
But that 60% of discretionary spending is also why the quality of life, life expectancy, health, and happiness of people
in the United States doesn’t match up with its level of wealth. You’ve heard all about the wealth hoarded by the
billionaires. It’s a drop in the bucket. Throwing the military $700 billion a year, year after year, explains not having
free college, free clean energy, free fast trains, beautiful parks, wonderful arts, a basic income guarantee, and why
the U.S. isn’t leading the world in actual foreign aid rather then begrudging it a stingy token. I don’t mean that we
could choose one of these other things instead of military spending. I mean that we could choose all of them. I’d gladly
give Donald Trump the leftover billions too just to shut up. Who cares? The world would be a wonderful place.
I usually don’t include healthcare in the list of things we could fund because we’re already over-funding it. We’re just
funding a corrupt system of private insurance companies that wastes a lot of it. This corrupt system is the result of a
corrupt system of government defended by increasingly militarized police cracking down on the use of the First
Amendment. Failing to connect these issues leaves us fumbling in the dark. Refugees from U.S. wars are blamed for their
suffering and then used as justification for more wars.
The wars are fueled by racism and in turn fuel greater racism and bigotry, which does its damage within the United
States and at the locations of its wars and its bases around the world. Part of the bigotry fueled by war for centuries
is sexism. Part of what keeps the wars going is perverse machismo. We should trace the roots of these fears, as many of
those roots can be found in military spending to just the same extent that the lack of funds for teachers can.
Yet we try to address the erosion of civil liberties as though it stands alone. What would be the justification for
spying on everyone, for example, if there were no enemies? It sounds fantastic, I suppose, but numerous nations that are
not at war do not have enemies. The United States should try it sometime, if only for the novelty.
There is another serious result of putting our resources into wars, though, and that is the generation of so many
enemies, so much hatred, such widespread hostility and resentment. There is, of course, a way to overcome the fear of
terrorism, and that is to stop engaging in the terrorism that produces blowback.
There is no divide between foreign and domestic. There is no pro-war environmentalism, or crony capitalist human rights
work, or racist peacemaking. If the absence of The One Single Demand troubles someone, give them the single demand that
they go read a book.
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David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio.He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook.
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