Why do Republicans hate peace??

[SoCalDem]

It has always confounded me. They peg us as "anti-war", as if that's a bad thing. We, and our leaders, waste lots of time "defending" an anti war stance, when the stance that really requires explanation is the "WAR LOVER" philosophy.

To be sure, the US has the military might to take on just about any country on the planet, BUT, just having that might does not make it a worthwhile thing to do..

Let's examine who profits from war:

The Halliburtons and KBR's of the world make lots of money from war
The Rockwells, GEs, and aircraft manufacturers of the world make money from the war.
The stockholders of those companies make lots of money..
The medical "industry" gains knowledge and new drugs and treatments come from war...and those things are turned into CASH also..

The lists go on and on, but the overriding questions are these..

How does a significant segment of a population BECOME warlike?

Why are so many seemingly "salt-of-the earth" types the MOST warlike, when it's often THEIR young who do the dying?
The hyper-patriotism required to "help them" achieve this philosophy seems little different from the suicide bomber's mindset, and that of his/her parents."Normal" people do not wake each day, and think of ways to kill an "enemy".

Why is negotiation constantly spun as "appeasement"?

Why are we "sold" war, as if it's just another "product"?

Why is there little discussion BEFORE a war, and then YEARS of discussion AFTER the dead are buried?

I contend that NO WAR ever "sneaks up on us" and whacks us on the head, demanding a knee-jerk response.

9-11 was as close to that kind of attack, as any we have had, and yet the very next day, the newspapers ran PHOTOGRAPHS and detailed dossiers of the comings and goings of the perpetrators. WE KNEW THEY WERE HERE..IT WAS NOT A SURPRISE ATTACK..


Money makes the world go 'round, and wars pay the largest dividends. They add an urgency to everything around us.. They heighten the senses..They are "good for business", even if they kill and maim friend and foe..

Wars are self-perpetuating.. The child of your enemy becomes the enemy of your child. Every soldier sows the seeds for the war that will drag his own child into battle.

Media must have conflict. Boredom is not conducive to increased market share and advertising rates, so we are "sold" on the need for war, just as we are sold on the need for tooth whitener, or mouthwash.

Psychiatrists will attest to the problems that occur in people with PTSD, because they are constantly in a state of hyper-vigilance.. This is what our media and our government has done, and is doing to us. Hyper-vigilance is necessary to outrun an immediate danger, but as a steady diet, it is deadly..

The Gung-Ho Warriors in our government don't care whther we die from poverty-induced illnesses,stress from years of overwork and underpay,lack of decent shelter and standard of living, or on a battlefield..

We are no longer assets to our country,or even an active part of it... we are just pawns being manipulated from cradle to grave...Buy this..think this way.. eat this.. stop doing that..become an army of one..

Hyper-Patriotism, in its cult-like (religious) form is necessary to make people want to kill people they don't even know, in order to be "safe"..Tele-vangelists know this, politicians know this, marketers know this.

Our government, hand in hand with its favorite propagandists know just how to make enough people (and just the right ones) become war-lovers, and in doing so, they effectively divide and forever harm our nation.

We are in danger..constant danger.. but it's danger from within..not from our "enemies". People all over the world used to want to be LIKE us, not to fight us..What changed???

WE did..

[jukes]

1. accurate assesment

no profit in peace.



love your kitty!

[Gore1FL]

2. They have nothing else to run on

War allows them to drape the American Flag across themselves and play founding Father make0-believe.

[mmonk]

3. They see

war as strength. Its easy to use war to smear your political opponents as well. They can say those that don't agree with their policy are against America and the troops instead of their policies. To them, war is foreign policy. To others, war is failure of policy.

[LiberalCat]

4. Republicans want to control people.

Democrats value diversity.

Republicans want to control women's bodies, everybody's sexual behavior (except their own), religion, thoughts, the list goes on and on. It is easier to control people when they live in fear and poverty.

The sheeple support them because they want to be told what to do. They don't want to take responsibility for their decisions and actions.

They also pretend they are powerful by supporting the powerful. Sports is a big part of the U.S. society. Most people are not playing the game. They are cheering their team. If their team is slamming the other team, they are cheering even louder. War is just a game to them and they cheer "their team".

War also gives them the excitement that their dull lives lack. Of course, the powerful neocons are busy taking away peoples options (with new laws, control of the media, and taking away people's livelihood, which could be used to buy exciting adventures). All that is left in their lackluster lives is to cheer for their leaders and "their team".

[LeftHander]

5. "Blessed are the peace makers..."

I understand your frustration. And apreciate your thoughts ideas about why. It is really difficult to understand why people can feel nothing at U.S. bombs tearing apart innocent Iraqi familes in their sleep and yet can go to church every Sunday and profess themselves to be "good" christians.

In my understanding it boils down to a deep seeded selfishness and prideful self awareness. Conservative Americans beleive they are "blessed" by God for all that they have and thus if "God" has allowed them to be so enriched then it is okay for others to suffer on thier behalf.

From time to time I encounter a pro-war, flag waving, gun toting American and if the discussion about war comes up I simply tell them that we have no rights as a human being to purposefully take the life of another. War is no exception. Period. I tell them that nothing is gained from the deaths of others.

Usually the conversation ends as they cannot possibly comprehend life without an enemy. They will then call me an out of touch peacenik wacko, a soft bleeding heart. I could call them war mongering selfish bigot. But that would just inflame them. They already have choosen me as an enemy. I try to not do the same.

As long as humans create enemies we will always have war. When there are oppressors there are the oppressed and there will be hate and death.

Conservatives will argue that that is human nature and we need to get the goods before they do.

The best that people of peace can do is to keep pointing out how wrong killing is. Keep predicting and voicing the outcome of policies that promote war. Keep showing those that will listen and even those who won't accept any alternative to war.

War does not bring out the best in people. Peace does.

[xcmt]

8. Hammer, meet nail's head.

I was already brainstorming a response to the original post that echoed something I read in your post.

Usually the conversation ends as they cannot possibly comprehend life without an enemy.

I was having a conversation with an old friend of mine, a few days ago, regarding our operations in Iraq, specifically Najaf. This friend is intelligent and, well, friendly, but also happens to be hardcore Republican. She'd made a comment about the press in Iraq doing nothing but reporting body counts, so the Iraqi police force had a right to remove them at gunpoint from Najaf. I retaliated that, in fact, the press in Najaf had more access to al-Sadr than anybody else, and were reporting frequent interviews.

She went off on a violent rant, summarizing that the American press shouldn't be reporting the propaganda of the enemy.

As the conversation continued, that "enemy" theme was fairly prevalent in her argument. All the nuances and complications of Iraq, our being an occupying force in a country that largely wants us to disappear, was lost to the fact that some people were "the enemy" and needed to be destroyed. She was also happy somebody shot at the peace protesters on their march towards Najaf, because "any one of them could have turned into terrorists with bombs strapped to their chests." Peace protesters. Civilians.

I also drew an analogy to the impending NYC protests, and she claimed the NYPD should have the right to fire live ammunition into a crowd marching towards police headquarters to protest wrongful imprisonment.

And I think it might just be that simple. The Republican mindset isn't happy unless there's an enemy to destroy. See, for example, their language regarding liberals, their language regarding everyone even remotely Arab, their language regarding homosexuals. They're all "evil" and need to be contained or eradicated.

I'm not at all surprised that their mindset is a function of hate. These are the same people that would much rather glorify the persecution and death of their savior, and get pissed at Jews, than revel in his teachings during what's written about his life. There's little doubt in my mind that, in a poll of registered Republicans, at least 80% would support a law banning "liberalism", regardless of things like freedom and the constitution.

I want to blame the simplicity and binary nature of conservatism. Everything is good or evil with no gray area between. You're with us or against us. You're right or lying. You're on our side, or you're the enemy.

[LeftHander]

9. Getting the word out...."What makes them our your enemy?"

Somehow people of peace need to open dialogs with conservative war supporters. SOme of the best ways are to ask questions. Most everyone is eager to answer a question and and asking "What makes them your enemy?" would be an excellent place to start.

War and violence are action based reponses, peace requires dialog and understanding. The biggest challenge is getting both parties together long enough to intiate a dialog. Openness is not a common conservative value.

Thanks SoCal Dem for opening this thread with your thoughts.

Starting the week out by thinking of peace is always refreshing.

[SoCalDem]

10. A good start would be to INVOLVE WOMEN and YOUNG PEOPLE

I have never met a single woman who did not gaze into her newborn's eyes, and think of all the wonderful things ahead for that baby.. (Not that Dads don't do the same)..there is just "something" about growing a baby inside your own body, and presenting that baby to the world..I would doubt that there is any person on earth that looked at that baby and said.. "He's gonna make a great soldier some day "..

and the young people need to be actively consulted since they ultimately inherit our mistakes :(

[Lerkfish]

6. wonderfullysaid: may I quote you on another board?

its a board overloaded with repugs and barely tolerated libs and dems. I could quote you with or without attribution, if you like.

I really like what you wrote, its to the point, accurate and coherently stated. therefore the repugs will be incensed, and confused by it.

:)

[SoCalDem]

7. be my guest

Thanks:)

[Deja Q]

11. They want oil and they want their corporate execs to like them

And they don't care as to how they get what they want.

We need oil for basic survival, but they know as we do that the supply won't be as big as demand. They want control - for both purposes of greed and possibly even survival, even though the corporate sect is doing their bit to cull off the lower classes as well.

[indepat]

12. Power and greed coupled with aversion to welfare other than welfare

for large corporations and the most affluent.

[LWolf]

13. Excellent.

We know why some do; those that profit from war hate giving up the power and $$$ that war brings them.

But the rest? Could it be any of the following?

*Lack of self-esteem; the only way they can generate any is to engage in bullying, whether of their family, neighbor, or nations. The only way they have to "prove" their worth is to prove "superiority;" to denigrate or demonize or flat out attack and destroy all things different, whether it be faith, ethnicity, philosophy, politics, etc.

*Lack of confidence; they are more comfortable following a leader, and believing everything they are told, than forming their own ideas.

*They don't value education. They won't engage in learning or discussion that requires critical thought.

*LACK OF EMPATHY.

[SoCalDem]

21. It looks like they denigrated a lot of people last night

I could not bring myself to watch even a minute of that farce, and this morning I heard someone call into c-span (could barely watch that EITHER) about the bandaid thing..

These people are just plain CRAZY..and a scarey kind of crazy at that..

Their guy is such a loser, they cannot stand that the "other" one did something heroic.. They simply MUST destroy everyone who might challenge their little troll..

"The Texas Chearleader Murdering Mom" movie comes to mind.. petty..vindictive..and dangerous..

It's no accident that mainly liberals are assassination targets.. the rightwingers are very dangerous people...and they can rationalize almost anything in their little twisted minds

[Neecy]

14. well said...

No wonder Bush* leers and chuckles when he tells his vampire-like followers that he's "spreadin' the peace". You can almost see dollar signs flying through the air. By using such bizarre terms, his shills can whistle and applaud his "peace" when they know what he really means - endless war and slaughter.

9-11 was as close to that kind of attack, as any we have had, and yet the very next day, the newspapers ran PHOTOGRAPHS and detailed dossiers of the comings and goings of the perpetrators. WE KNEW THEY WERE HERE..IT WAS NOT A SURPRISE ATTACK..

This has always stunned me as well, and I have yet to understand just how this detailed information came to light less than 24 hours after the act. The media won't touch it.

[tabasco]

15. Repub leaders are loyal to the military industries ...

which line their pockets and campaign coffers. Democrats are loyal to the American people and our troops.
Eisenhower considered the powerful military-industrial complex as one of the greatest threats to our democracy. We are seeing his fears come to pass withthe neocons in power.

[arwalden]

16. They Are Impotent Without Boogeymen. The NEED Villains.

Without them, the Republican party is nothing.

[SoCalDem]

18. War is their viagra..

:(

[renegade000]

17. war is quite profitable

eom

[jackieforthedems]

19. They're From Cain's Side Of The Family

Cain slew Abel in the Bible, as you probably know. This is just my opinion. I also think it's obvious regarding that the Republicans profit from war. May I also add that I believe war is just another form of "population control" - and the Republicans only want their own kind around. It makes life so much easier for them to snuff out people that they feel are useless, unproductive - anybody that they may have to take care of, etc... I probably sound really cynical, but the Bush Administration is disgusting with all of their budget cuts to the elderly, disabled and veterans. This is what I am personally seeing, witnessing where I live (MN), and it's just so obvious.

[SoCalDem]

20. Oooh ...a biblical reference.. and a great one..

You are right.. In the black/white...good/evil thought process, the Cain * Abel reference is spot on :)

[arbusto_baboso]

22. Remember the "Dems start all the wars" meme from the Reagan years????

I actually encountered some idiots who truly believed that one back in the '80's.

I'd sure like to talk to some of those fuckwits now....

[info being]

23. Out-of-control selfishness

They want to kill everyone else out of fear that they, themselves, may one day be killed. They take self-centerdness to a whole new level of not just looniness but evil.