When is enough, enough?

I am totally opposed to any further buildup of our military forces. We currently spend more on our military than all of the rest of the world combined. Can no one perceive when enough is not only enough but far more than enough? Who is it we are currently arming ourselves against? Do we envision an invasion from outer space with battalions of tanks and aircraft carriers and submarines, to say nothing of gigantic green monsters with weapons we have not yet even imagined? Just who is it that is going to attack us on the battlefield where we would need more tanks and cannon and what all? Oh, I bet China. I'm sure they will want to destroy their most lucrative market. And how about Russia? I bet they are just arming up now to launch an invasion on our mainland. And of course there is Iran, just trying to hold back their citizens from personally attacking us all. Cuba has always been a big threat. If you look over our nuclear subs you can probably see them from Florida. Our military/industrial/political cabal is nothing short of an absolute obscenity. Who elected us to manage the affairs of all the other countries that make up the world? Most of them would like nothing better than to get us the hell out of their politics and just leave them alone. We do not need 50 billion dollars to repair our military equipment that under our current procedures will be obsolete before it is repaired. We do need 50 billion dollars for health care, education, environment, infrastructure, and so on. What on earth is wrong with us? Who is it we fear so much? If it is terrorists we certainly do not need more tanks and planes. We might need some common sense which seems to have disappeared of late. When I contemplate our current situation I can only conclude that we are insanely paranoid and are being force-fed nothing but corporate nonsense non-stop. I'm surprised they are not encouraging a tank in every garage and a 50 caliber machine gun on every lawn (have to be prepared, you know). The longer we thoughtlessly allow this to continue the worse it becomes. Is everyone's brain so saturated with football and soaps and obsolescent materialism they just can't be bothered?

There is a real problem with our military and national defense that I am having much trouble trying to work out. For example, I am not enamoured of having an all volunteer army. I was not in favor of this for the simple reason that I suspect the loyalties of such soldiers may well be more to those who pay them than to our country itself. When you consider our apparently growing "army" of mercenaries (Blackwater, or whatever) this becomes absolutely frightening. On the other hand, I am not very keen on a draft (which in the past has operated pretty much as a lottery and also was given to abuse - think Bush and Cheney, for example).

Although my wife (and many, many others) are opposed to it I am leaning toward a mandatory period of national service (not military service per se) for everyone once they graduate from High School or become 18 years of age. This would definitely be service for their country and among other things could impress upon them the importance of being informed citizens and voting. Such service could include virtually anything: building infrastructure, medical, environmental, or agricultural work, and even military service if interested. Probably 18 months or more of such service, during which time they would be taught such things as citizenship, patriotism, ethics, and the joys and importance of community.

This experience would not be unlike the kinds of initiation ceremonies carried out in many parts of the world but without the violence often associated with such rituals. In the New Guinea Highlands where I worked, for example, youths were allowed to run pretty much wild until a certain age when they were initiated. During the initiations they were treated very roughly, made to go without food for a time, held over fires, beaten with thorns, subjected to brutal treatment of their genitals, and such things, but they were also told that now they would have to settle down, marry, garden, bear children, defend each other, and, in general, become responsible citizens. We could do this without the violence and abuse and perhaps get the same results. This would be mandatory for all children, rich or poor, black, white, or other. It could be a kind of Civilian Conservation Corps, Peace Corps, Vision Quest, Initiation all rolled into one. It might even produce some truly motivated and decent citizens who would take their government seriously. Anyway, think about it.