An Extra 500 Billion Dollars!

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sing a chorus of end the war in Iraq. They are the cheerleaders for their choir. Bring our military troops home they say. But why do they say it and is it the right thing to do? Imagine a world where you would not need a military to defend your security. Consider then what the United States could do with an extra $ 500 Billion dollars annually (lower taxes, sure up social security, resolve the healthcare industry, preserve our natural resources etc…)

The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world. The US has the most advanced military in the world capable of extending itself in multiple threat regions simultaneously. But is this resource strain validated (and the greater moral argument would be why we would need to use our financial and military resources helping other world nations and people).

One lesson from the 20th century is that ethnically mixed societies can explode. It is possibly the greatest threat to our world culture. The war in Bosnia was a sad example of this reality. When humanity’s inhumanity is unleashed on one another war is only the beginning of mass suffering. When this type of suffering occurs we begin to imagine a world without us.

When the war of cultures unleashed in Bosnia the world went on “business as usual” while within Bosnia mass exterminations were going on. A culture cleansing that would disgust even the least moral of societies.

But where were the great powers of the world? Where were the United States, China, Russia, and most of important the closet power of all the European Union? Bosnia-Herzegovina has a population area of about 4.5 million people. The great powers alone when combined have over 2.2 trillion people! The great powers alone have a combined purchasing power of over $ 38 trillion dollars! Rich does not begin to describe the great powers of the world. So then with such great ability must come great responsibility.

If Not America then Who?

A question we still debate today. As we move into the 2008 political elections we must reasonably address the individual issues and conflicts that we face from across the street to around the world and vote our values. This is by no means easy as we consider all of the political candidates. But it is a challenge that we rightfully must accept and complete.