Things to Remember After a Week of Political-Economic Flip-flopping

Photo Credit/thevillagefamily.org

It's been another week of political and economic flip-flops.

I'm finding comfort in remembering these few things:

1. Something isn't true or a fact because someone says it is.

A fact has to be proven. A truth is a generally accepted outcome or reasoning. Normally truth is based on fact. And a fact isn't based on who believes it.

Just because the 45th says something is "fake news" doesn't make it so. Just because the 45th says trade wars "are easy to win," doesn't make it true.

2. No country is dependent upon one particular person to "save" it.

The 45th has said on multiple occasions that he's the best president ever, smartest president ever and that his administration has done more than any other administration in US history.

Many (mostly white) evangelical Christians sincerely believe that the 45th was chosen by God to run the country. 

Regardless of who is choosing whom, if you're looking for a Christian-type person to lead the US, using personal actions as your yardstick, our current president definitely isn't.

3. No one organized religion has the inside track on God.

God is enormously complex. As is God's creation. If the essence of God is contained in God's creation, which is incredibly diverse, it's beyond my comprehension how anyone can claim that their version of God is the only one that's valid.

4. The world doesn't exist only for the pleasure of the US or any other country.

Maybe it's because of the recent G7 summit, but there's a part of me that thinks such meetings are simply arrogant. How can seven countries think that they can set the course for the rest of the world? We humans tend to get in trouble when behaving selfishly. Witness WWI, WWII, the Vietnam War, the war in Afghanistan, etc. Speaking of which...

5. War is a waste of resources.

Let's use the example of the war in Afghanistan. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this war has cost the US about $2.4 trillion as of 2017. In 2018 PBS reported that the Pentagon put the current price tag of the war in Afghanistan at $45 billion a year. 

What have we gained? What has Afghanistan gained except a very unstable country that has basically been bombed to smithereens? Ditto Iraq. We aren't the only major country to fail shamelessly in Afghanistan. Ask the Russians. 

Just take a moment to think about the alternative, positive uses of almost $2.4 trillion dollars! Think about spending that amount of money on education, the arts, or infrastructure for instance.

The Congressional Budget Office says this year's federal deficit will likely hit near $1 trillion.

Photo Credit/Empowering Women for NonViolence

The current administration in Washington would have you believe that it's the social service programs (other than Social Security and Medicare) that are the problem. In fact, they have proposed cuts in SNAP (Food Stamps) with fiscal responsibility as their supposed motive. However, according to the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, safety net programs take up only nine percent of the federal budget. Defense takes up almost twice that amount (fifteen percent). 

It would seem that if any cuts should be made, it would be in the area of defense spending.

6. War is not a good side-business.

The US is currently the largest seller of military supplies in the world. According to Business Insider, the US is responsible for 34 percent of all arms sales in the world. It's biggest customer is Saudi Arabia (an immoral government if there ever was one - witness their war in Yemen.) The US' biggest competitor in worldwide arms sales is Russia at 22 percent. Russia's biggest customer is India.

When you look at the results, in human and economic terms, selling guns, fighter jets and other weapons is extremely counterproductive. What if the US transferred an additional $2.4 trillion into its foreign aid program earmarked for Yemen and Haiti? 

Simply put weapons kill people, cause mass migrations, and widespread illness. War does not make a country or the world stronger. Building up torn down countries does.

If enough of us pester our elected officials who vote on budget allocations, we can reset our nation's priorities to reflect compassion and empathy.

7. Human beings are a very creative species.

As long as there is freedom and we are open to positive change there is hope!