Spend more on poor, less on U.S. military
Spend more on poor, less on U.S. military
TUESDAY, MAY 8, 2012
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20120508/OPINION02/705089941/1035
The letter by JoAnn Massey in the April 20 issue was very good pointing out the invasive nature and amount of poverty in our country.
The federal government’s propaganda machine, now called public relations, keeps beating the drums that the United States is the best country on earth. We are No. 25 in education on a world scale and No. 50 in health. Add to that half of our citizens live at or near the poverty line with children who suffer, and we have to realistically ask again, “What is it that makes us No. 1?”
What we are No. 1 in is man’s lowest endeavor on earth: war. The military runs this country and gets half of the annual federal budget producing nothing, not even security. Throughout history military personnel come mostly from the poor classes, and remember the Army has been having recruiting problems.
Four hundred people in this county control half of the wealth in the nation. These people through the use or nonuse of these assets control the direction in which our country moves. If it were not for food stamps, there already would be food riots in the streets of America. What would the rest of the world think of us then?
Ms. Massey’s heart was obviously broken. The plight of these poor children is symptomatic of the plight of this nation. We were taught in school how wonderful America is supposed to be. Then we get out into the real world and find out that it is not what it is supposed to be. God bless Ms. Massey in her moment of disillusion.
As a Vietnam solder said to me one time, “They taught us about the Redcoats in school. I was in Nam only one week before I realized we were the Redcoats.”
It’s time to stop the military madness that has gripped this nation for far too long. We have to start taking care of our own business. China and India are both richer than we are now, and they are not trying to occupy anybody. In plain words, we wouldn’t have hungry children in this county, if we didn’t send so much money overseas. America first.
