illumined horizon

i think a great number of americans do not understand that the wars the U.S. military engages in are not to defend the american people... they are to defend the international trading structure, a trading structure that is devised without the vast majority of the american people bargaining at the table... this trading structure has reduced the amount of unionization in america (which was around 30% in the 1960s) to below 8% today... it has opened up vast new regions of the world to exploitation by large corporations... it has made organized labor a weaker foe for elite politicians and planners... it has allowed large corporations to dictate to working people of the 'developing' countries low wages and limited regulation to multinational corporate activity... it is unclear what the exact prescription is to remedy this situation, but the current course is a castrophe for the great mass of americans and indeed most people of the planet...

war also serves the purpose of keeping domestic spending at bay because the extortionary military budget almost all the time makes programs and initiatives that would expand the middle class only possible if the government chooses to further in debt its citizens... the idea that the troops are keeping americans safe is ahistorical and illogical... the troops are making commerce safe for the richest people in the world...