WAR OR PEACE. OR BOTH? WHICH IS BEST FOR DEMOCRACY?

Hilbert Morales EL OBSERVADOR
Photo Credit: Pixabay

Hilbert Morales
EL OBSERVADOR

 

In this era of electronic information transmission, the hallmark of Information Technology (IT), too many newsworthy items come to our attention. Our President Trump, likes to take credit for all the good things that are happening: a) full employment; b) a domestic economy which is the envy of any and all global markets; and c) Mr. Trump is the very visible evidence that “Only in America could this earth’s superpower, U.S.A. have an electorate that takes for granted many of the ideals embodied in our Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) along with its U.S. Constitution.

Too many citizens, who have the right to vote and to make a choice for their elected representatives, simply do not participate in that process. The last presidential election (2016) was an example of taking things for granted.

So, Mr. Donald J. Trump was elected by the slimmest of margins because his strategists gamed the Electoral College properly. As a result, Hillary Clinton did not become the very first female citizen to be elected as President of the United States of America.

The ultra-wealthy and corporate interests, using their DARK MONEY strategically, have managed to buy enough votes to bring their very conservative agenda front and center.  The evidence is there for all to see: Only the Department of Defense (aka The Pentagon) has budget increases; all the others (Health & Human Services, Commerce, Justice, House & Urban Development, Dept. of Interior, etc.) are being asked to operate reduced budgets.

Is this all evidence that the “Military-Industrial Complex”, which former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned the American people about, is alive and very influential? The use of war to keep the American domestic economy at a high-performance level has resulted in having the DOD have sufficient influence in all 50 states to enable America to be the world’s policeman for the past 75 years since WW II ended.

The American Revolution was successful though many are never told that Mexico advanced the gold which arrived just in time to fund General George Washington’s army (its payroll could be paid). The War of 1812 followed; the Mexican American War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) which transferred the entire Southwestern American lands from Mexican to American jurisdictions. That treaty states that Mexican Citizens who stayed put in their Southwestern homes were to be now considered American Citizens who could retain and use their Spanish language and culture.

The Civil War (1862-1865) saw the rebel Confederate States defeated by the Union Army with the loss of an estimated 600,000 American lives. The Spanish-American War preceded the American involvement in the First World War. Then came World War II against the Axis Powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan). America tried to stay out of that WW II, however, after the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, then President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on the Axis Powers. In a short time following that December 7, 1941 raid, America mobilized a military force of 13 million men and women.

Those remaining at home became the labor force for the “Arsenal of Democracy” which supplied all manner of material support to the United Kingdom, Russia, and many other nations who were America’s Allies. During 1944-5, the meetings held in San Francisco, CA led to the establishment of the United Nations as an international assembly were the challenges of the establishment of international order could be deliberated and implemented with human rights as the basic issue.

Then followed the Korean Police Action where General Douglas MacArthur successfully repelled the invasion of South Korea (and may have reconquered North Korea to rejoin it with South Korea into the former Korean nation occupied by Japanese Imperial forces during WWII. The Viet Nam Conflict followed (52,000 casualties); Desert Storm (Kuwait) followed.

Then our efforts to constrain Communist expansion (Russia (Joseph Stalin) and Communist China, which were successful, were replaced by organized terrorism. Osama Bin Laden masterminded the destruction of New York City’s Trade Center by using three high-jacked commercial airliners to crash into these buildings (including the Pentagon). A fourth high-jacked plane was thwarted in its mission by the American passenger patriots who quickly organized and caused that fourth airliner to crash in a field located in Pennsylvania. Its target was either the White House or the U.S. Congressional buildings. It was this event which was the basis for the bombing by the U.S. Air force of Terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

The invasion of Iraq followed with the outcome that American military forces successfully defeated Saddam Hussein’s military, and since then have used military force to go after the extremist Muslin Terrorist groups (Al Qaeda and Taliban) which continue to skirmish with Allied forces (Mainly American) in the Mid-East since 2001. The nature of war was now changed to one of fanatic ideologues who are being trained and organized by those who oppose Democratic governance wherein the resident population has a role in governance.

Our freedoms, all of which involve making choices by voting during elections, are being constantly challenged and undermined by those few ideologues who believe in oligarchy (governance by a few authoritarians). It is troubling today to witness our President Trump be friendly with dictators of North Korea, the Philippines, and Venezuela. And it is troubling that a few very wealthy billionaires continue to supply the DARK MONEY which paralyzes the U.S. Congressional legislative process. And it is troubling to know that some 33 states have Republican governors whose administrations have allowed voter suppression via gerrymandering.

It is essential that the 2020 Census population figures are not used to further undermine the idea of having One Citizen-One Vote election process. We all have witnessed the intrusion via electronic social media networks which were influenced by Russia and which helped Donald J. Trump defeat Hillary Clinton and become the current President of America.

I note that President Trump has always selected advisors and associates who are first loyal to him rather than to the democratic ideals embedded in our U.S. Constitution and its 28 Amendments. Former Secretary of State Albright warned this nation about a future Trump Fascist state because he undermined the Free Press and many institutions including the Supreme Court.

American citizens need to become aware that Democracy is based upon participatory governance requiring citizen voting participation which sustains those ideals.

Invariably, authoritarian dictators seek to close down the Free Press; constrain Free Speech and the right to assemble peaceably, plus the right to present their grievance to their government for resolution. No authoritarian government allows this to happen, certainly not Russia’s Vladimir Putin whose associates are all supportive oligarchists.

Note that today populist movements toward democracy are being resisted by dictators. Today, resolve to dedicate a minute of meditation during which you give thanks to those who died fighting for the freedoms Americans enjoy. Resolve not to take these freedoms of choice for granted, but to do what it takes to sustain them in a democracy wherein even our President is subject to the laws of this land.  Each of us must continue to support and sustain democracy wherein each of us has equal standing under the laws of this land along with full access to opportunity and creation of wealth while living in peace and security.

Next year, 2020, we all must speak up with our vote as our voice. That involvement is what sustains our nation as a super-power whose social and economic success is the envy of the rest of this earth. Freedom of choice requires defensive vigilance always. Do enjoy July 4th next Thursday and thank those whose sacrifice established and sustained our freedoms during all those past conflicts. Know and understand that Mexicans were involved at each and every stage.

You are not Mexican Americans (immigrants), but American residents whose heritage happens to be Mexican. You and your antecedents have always belonged here as primordial patriotic residents. PEACE IS BEST, BUT WE ARE WILLING TO GO TO WAR TO SUSTAIN OUR DEMOCRACY.

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