An Anti-War Post
Several things came to my attention about our so-called "war on terror" today. Aside from the fact that a war on terror is by nature ridiculous, undefinable, interminable, and a monumental waste, I now have even more reasons to loathe our continuing presence in Iraq and support Ron Paul for President.
Get this, over half of all military donations given to GOP presidential candidates went to Ron Paul, the most anti-war candidate! Ron Paul's not anti-military, but he certainly is anti-military-industrial-complex. America has 702 bases in 130 countries. Given that there are only 194 countries in the world, the fact that we occupy 67% of the world's nations ought to say something about our empire. Oh, we're never told in school that we have a world empire, but make no mistake. We do. We're currently spending more than a trillion dollars a year keeping our empire afloat, borrowing almost that full sum from the Chinese and Japanese annually. Our weakening dollar is the first sign of our imminent downfall. Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate honest enough to critique this status quo, and the only one proposing that we end our empire gracefully instead of by declaring bankruptcy. He wants to bring those scattered troops home to build a strong national defense, use the money saved to help pay off our skyrocketing debt and ease government dependents off of our unsustainable entitlement system. This is a key element of his platform, and the average military Joe supports him!
I saw an excrutiating video put out by ABC News detailing a few average days in the life of some of our troops there. The stuff we ask our soldiers to put up with, the stuff we ask them to do, is appalling. This war needs to end. Not just because war is bad, but because this war is bad. Not just because war is futile, but because this war, in particularly glaring ways, is futile.
On a more positive note, I discovered TOMS Shoes today. For every pair of shoes you buy from TOMS, they donate a pair to a child in a developing nation. Here's a business that's making money and making a real, tangible difference. But more than that, I marvel that TOMS has turned shoes into a souvenir. To quote the marketing genius Seth Godin, they're selling "a post-modern shoe, a shoe for people who don't need shoes, but are happy to wear a statement. This isn't the first pair of shoes most Americans will buy, it might not even be the tenth. But it will be one that people talk about when they're wearing it."
Get this, over half of all military donations given to GOP presidential candidates went to Ron Paul, the most anti-war candidate! Ron Paul's not anti-military, but he certainly is anti-military-industrial-complex. America has 702 bases in 130 countries. Given that there are only 194 countries in the world, the fact that we occupy 67% of the world's nations ought to say something about our empire. Oh, we're never told in school that we have a world empire, but make no mistake. We do. We're currently spending more than a trillion dollars a year keeping our empire afloat, borrowing almost that full sum from the Chinese and Japanese annually. Our weakening dollar is the first sign of our imminent downfall. Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate honest enough to critique this status quo, and the only one proposing that we end our empire gracefully instead of by declaring bankruptcy. He wants to bring those scattered troops home to build a strong national defense, use the money saved to help pay off our skyrocketing debt and ease government dependents off of our unsustainable entitlement system. This is a key element of his platform, and the average military Joe supports him!
I saw an excrutiating video put out by ABC News detailing a few average days in the life of some of our troops there. The stuff we ask our soldiers to put up with, the stuff we ask them to do, is appalling. This war needs to end. Not just because war is bad, but because this war is bad. Not just because war is futile, but because this war, in particularly glaring ways, is futile.
On a more positive note, I discovered TOMS Shoes today. For every pair of shoes you buy from TOMS, they donate a pair to a child in a developing nation. Here's a business that's making money and making a real, tangible difference. But more than that, I marvel that TOMS has turned shoes into a souvenir. To quote the marketing genius Seth Godin, they're selling "a post-modern shoe, a shoe for people who don't need shoes, but are happy to wear a statement. This isn't the first pair of shoes most Americans will buy, it might not even be the tenth. But it will be one that people talk about when they're wearing it."
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