Dear Editor,
No matter what party is in power, when they decide how to spend money, the opposition will surely contest it as being a frivolous waste, when something else is obviously more important. With a federal election a looming possibility, now is a time for citizens to prioritize . . .
their preferences. There are the obvious needs for strategies to avoid a pandemic explosion and a need for citizens and businesses to be aided in their recovery from the unprecedented health restrictions.
This and various forms of pollution that result from the world’s materialistic lifestyle are the wars of this age. The old wars, between uniformed soldiers of one nation against another, are outmoded. The undeclared, but dirty and destructive war in Vietnam bore witness to the fact that war had changed. Nations should have heeded that clarion call. There is no rationale for spending tankers of money on preparation for such a war as it was in the 20th Century.
And yet, nations, including Canada, continue to waste money on war machinery that will never be used. There was a recent event planned back in August, wherein several nations were to take part in massive ‘war games’ near Hawaii. As you can imagine, the US figured prominently, and Canada was to be represented. I haven’t heard or read, if the exercise ever took place, because it’s one of those quiet issues that go unnoticed in a time of hurricanes, forest fires, civil unrest, militarized police brutality and pandemics jostling for media space with overwhelming plastic pollution and climate changes.
The event was to include naval, submarine and air power events, involving thousands of personnel and live ammunition firing at and sinking ships. The population of Hawaii was not pleased, this is not the type of tourism they want to see. Did you know that our countries were spending money in preparation for 20th Century-type warfare? With which nation could we expect to go to war next? No nation. The most likely war we will see in the near future, is a civil war in the US, with inevitable spillover into Canada. How will such war games help in preparation for that eventuality? Not at all. As a result of co-operative military exercises, the US will gain access to all control codes, so that no country will be able to conduct war against the US, rogue though it may become.
The wars of the future are not between nations but between those who want government to help its citizens, and those who want government to assure they can continue to get richer on the backs of low-wage workers. If you want to get filthy rich, there’s no better way than to produce and promote war machinery that we all hope will never be used. In the next election, I intend to query candidates on their stance with regard to non-productive military spending.
Robert Wills
Thorne and Shawville, Que.
