7/27/12

Notes From Peace Demonstrations: "There Is No Money In Peace"

During John Fortier's Peace Vigil last Friday (7/20/12), a young man pulled up as close to us as he could. He held up his right hand and gave us a two fingered peace sign and said, "there is no money in peace."

He then drove off into the heavy traffic on Pacific Coast Highway. Seven days have gone by since then and the truth in his words continue to haunt me. To conduct war, there is the massive lobbying effort of the Military Industrial Complex and the vast amount of money they contribute to politicians, as well as for all the jobs they provide.

But the vast merits of peace are often silent, even though they enrich all of mankind in brotherhood and a greater sense of purpose. America celebrates its war heroes and its historic records tell little of those who sacrificed for peace.

I thought of this this week when on the news one night, President Obama spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, discussing the importance of spending money on the military. And the next night, his political opponent Mitt Romney seemed determined to do the same, and implied he would spend even more money on the military than President Obama.

Neither spoke of peace, for as that young man said at John Fortier's peace vigil, "there is no money in peace."

Dick

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