A Nation at Peace

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

To a warmonger, every problem calls for a war.

WAR! WAR! FOREVER WAR! UNENDING WAR!

Our current leaders are hypnotized by war. They lack the vision and resourcefulness to consider negotiation and cooperation. Peace is not in their thoughts. ‘Peace’ is not in their vocabulary. They are addicted to war. They are obsessed with war.

The lesson we must take from this is this: Talking to them, trying to change their minds, trying to alter their policies and methods, is a complete waste of time. It’s like yelling at storm clouds and telling them to stop raining. It’s like telling a bumble bee it should get a pilot license. It’s like talking to a wall and expecting a reply.

Which means, there is only one sensible, rational, effective course of action …

Current U.S. leadership, at all levels — we’re probably looking at 99% of those now in positions of power — must be replaced.

This is the only possible way to stop U.S. aggression and wanton promotion of chaos and violence in the world.

This must be the entire focus of peace activism going forward. We have no choice in the matter. The record is clear — an unblemished record of total failure to stop, or even slow down, the war machine.

Make no mistake about it! Replacing these misfits, psychopaths, sociopaths, and enemies of peace now in power, will not be easy.

But it can — and must — be done!

Our survival as a nation, perhaps the survival of the entire human race is at stake!

Here’s what it will take.

The two major parties will not give us the choices we need to make. Both the Republicans and Democrats are in the pockets of the military-industrial complex. And to bolster their commitment to this vast money laundering enterprise, where hundreds of billions of dollars end up in the coffers of giant defense companies and ultimately into the bank accounts of the ultra-wealthy, both major parties are fanatically committed to making the U.S. an empire.

If we want peace, we will have to elect peace candidates. And to elect peace candidates, we must on our own initiative put peace candidates on the ballot.

Identifying and choosing alternatives to the pro-war establishment candidates will not be complicated. At least for now, here’s the litmus test, consisting of three questions to be put to prospective candidates:

If a candidate answers ‘yes’ to all three, he or she deserves our full support and our vote. We then do everything it takes to get this person on the ballot. There are three ways to get them on the ballot:

First option is to use primaries. That is, run them in the next primary against one of the major party candidates.

Second option is to run the candidates as “third party”, e.g. as a Green or Libertarian or other minor party candidate.

Third option is to put them on the ballot as an independent. Right now, this is what Dennis Kucinich is doing in Ohio’s 7th District.

Whatever strategy we adopt certainly will require some serious dedication and hard work. We’ll have to organize locally and talk to voters face-to-face, we’ll have to marshal all of the power of social media, we’ll have to badger local media for news coverage. We’ll have to organized rallies and bake sales, visit churches, convalescent homes, community clubs and organizations.

But recognize: this is democracy at its best! It is citizens, locally, community-by-community, working together to signal their priorities, put their values before the public, and introduce real choice at the polls.

Once peace candidates are on the ballot, then it’s up to the voting public. If we the people want to end the wars, reverse the rampant militarization of our society, if we truly want peace, then …

WE ONLY VOTE FOR PEACE CANDIDATES!

It’s that simple.

This is how we “fire” the warmongers who now populate the halls of Congress and other seats of power.

This is how we stop the squandering of our national wealth, the theft of our money!

This is how we inaugurate a nation at peace!

And guess what?

The whole world will thank us!

John Rachel has a B.A. in Philosophy, has traveled extensively, is a songwriter, music producer, neo-Marxist, and a bipolar humanist. He has written eight novels and three political non-fiction books. His most recent polemic is The Peace Dividend: The Most Controversial Proposal in the History of the World. His political articles have appeared at many alternative media outlets. He is now somewhat rooted in a small traditional farming village in Japan near Osaka, where he proudly tends his small but promising vegetable garden. Scribo ergo sum. Read other articles by John, or visit John's website.