WAR

    The question is posed: "War! What is it good for?" An answer is quickly forthcoming: "Absolutely nothing!" Yet over the millenia, ever since that first caveman picked up a club and hit his neighbor over the head in a war to win the best mate, or the best hunting ground, war has been an integral part of mankind's life on this earth. Yet again, the next year or the next generation would pick up a better club and/or come with a gang and repeat the process. What was gained? Beats me and beats the history of mankind.
     Back to Bibical times, the Bible tells us there are two kinds of wars: that which must be fought, to defend oneself, to right a true wrong, and the other type, the selfish one, that which goes to gaining power or control. There are rules as to who can go to war, who can be placed in positions of danger, and how to treat captives, way before the Geneva Convention!!
     Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows." Think of the wars in which we have been involved since the end of WWII, a war which had to be fought against the inhumanity of Nazi Germany, fought to protect mankind. Yet almost every war after that was entered into through lack of talk, because of power plays, due to lies and trickery, and because of a lack of knowing what else to do in order to get a point across. What has been gained? Are we done with the Taliban in Afghanistan? Are we done with al Quaeda? Have we finished with the Islamic Caliphate? Have we done away with white supremacy and nativism all over the world? The answer is singular and applies to all - NO!
     It seems that the wars we should be fighting - the war on poverty, the war against hatred and prejudice, the war to gain equality for all, the war to recognize the humanity of all kinds and sorts of people, the war to fix our shattered environment - these are the wars we should be fighting. Instead, we are back to fighting things that should have been long done away with.
     We all thought we had come a long way on the road of recognizing the humanity of all. LGBTQ were accepted, allowed to marry, adopt children, fight in defense of their countries but once again we are back to the Middle Ages - no, not so far back even, right back to the 70's and 80's. Why? Why have we waged this backward war - again! 
     We are waging war on the mere thought of equality for genders, attacking the whole concept of equal pay, equal rights, and not just here, but all over the world. Once again we are attacking the right of women to control their own body, to make their own decision and not have someone else, men especially, tell them what they can and cannot do! We are hearing protests about federal funds paying for abortions but then again, do we hear the protests about Viagra and other sex drugs for men being paid for by federal funds? Nope. We are hearing once again, the Nazi theme of 'kinder, kirch, kuche - children, the kitchen and church - as the proper roles and places for women.
     Once again, thanks to the physical coward, Trump, and his crazy warlike behavior and actions, the world once again is at the brink and this time, I fear it will not end as do and did other wars, for we have madmen running the countries, madmen who seemingly have no  limits, no sense and no caring for mankind at all. So Trump starts a tariff war that is threatening the whole world and then grows indignant when other countries then place tariffs on us, as just did India. His hatred and nativism, his backing of white supremacists, his allowing the scum of the earth to surface and feel safe once again, and his constant belligerent mouth and actions are going to bring us to the point of mass salughter. War, once initiated, is not so easy to limit or stop. This time we have madmen with access to nuclear war via nuclear missiles and so what, do we now dig out the backyard bomb shelters and stock water and MREs in public shelters and to what avail? Against nuclear war? Perhaps we should once again engage in that idiocy of nuclear war drills where as kids we were told to hide under our desks!! What malarkey!!
    If we feel that we must engage in war, then let us wage the right war, on that which separates us, that which we forget, that which makes us time and time again revert to force and the culture of power. Why can we not rather encourage the power of culture, of civilization, and put down those Neanderthal clubs, put down the hate literature, put away the assault weapons, open up hearts and minds to what is right and proper for the future of mankind. Sure as shootin' it sure will not be assured via violent war. 
    War? What is it good for? Only to reinforce the ugly, the bad, the violent, to leave seeds for future dissonance and violence.We need to think of other ways and soon before it is too late.