Activism Change

The "No Peace Dividend" Chorus (I)

Question:

Once again the political culture and corporate press triumph over common sense in the recurring No Peace Divident chorus which informs us that the economic conversion proposals of Larry Agran and others are impossible, impractical — if not indeed harmful! — and that we should follow the Reagan/Bush/Congress course of the last 12 years which has brought us to the sparkling bright economic state of affairs we find ourselves in today. Note first the sequence of events and circle of logic followed: over the past 12 years, there has been massive state intervention in the economy by means of a vastly increased taxpayer subsidy of the military-industrial complex; namely, VAST cuts in spending on the pillars of a strong economy and society — education, job training, housing, repairing and improving infrastructure, etc — have been made while at the same time vastly increasing military spending. Another noteworthy feature was a transfer, also massive, of wealth from the poor, and interestingly, the middle-class, according to the same studies and analyses, to the very wealthy, who have gotten wealthier still while the poor have become more desperate and the middle class has gotten the same pleasant treatment. The "government off your back" policies, in short, meant not only taking government services "off our backs" (in essence, theft of our tax-dollars, which instead of providing the services, infrastructure, etc, referred to above, go to military contractors, U.S.-taxpayer subsidies to multinational corporations by means of government "loans" to other countries forcing them to buy from U.S. corporations while most their population starves, unable to but these), but that 90% of Americans are paying MORE taxes now than they did in 1977 — but the *richest* are paying less. The studies, articles, and references to all of these I have posted in the past in the 40-part _Decline of America_ series, which also documented the consequences of these policies: unfant mortality and general health care below nearly all the other Western industrial countries; less extreme but similar symptoms in low-birthweight babies, child poverty, students per teacher; twice the cost per unit of GNP as Germany or Japan (following disinvestment in mass-transit, renewable energy, conservation, etc); the world’s highest per-capita imprisonment rate, as federal disinestment in cities, education, etc causes deepending decay, crime, and drug use (with wholesale rejection of drug-treatment seekers due to limitations on funding miniscule next to near-useless lock-em-up, crop-burning, and border-patrol budgets) escalate. In short, as it matters little to the elite in power if the "lower" masses (us) live in misery and decay, the "deficit" was run up as a tool to deny spending *our* tax-dollars on services for Americans — instead fueling the military industrial complex, giving the super-rich tax-breaks, and generally allowing them to have a "party" the tab for which we, the ordinary tax-paying Americans are natually called upon to pay(*) — now, when the deficit is starting to worry these elites, we are called upon to enjoy higher taxes and lower-still benefits to pay for the cost of the deficit ran up by these policies which themselves included massive social cuts. (*)In part, with the S&L scandal including a mere TRILLION dollars in unnecessary interest over the next 40 years (OMB) since it is necessary to pay for the mess "quietly", hence over a long period of time, since it is not the rascals but the American public which is being handed the bill. An expanded _Decline of America_ will be programmed, probably for this summer, although references are available at any time. [Chart Enclosed below, which comprised 3/40th of the _Decline of America_ series; in part two of this article, following this background, I address more directly the arguments of the No-Peace-Divident crowd -- I say "directly," not "seriously," because the arguments do not withstand the merest scrutiny.]  - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –         [Send the 1-line message GET FED-BDGT PRIORITY ACTIV-L to]         [Send GET ACTIV-L ARCHIVE ACTIV-L to above address for a ]         [listing with brief descriptions of other files available]                 W i n n e r s   &   L o s e r s          | Fact Sheet |                   Federal Spending From 1980 – 1990                        (adjusted for inflation) Percentage Increase/decrease      |      |                            Military      |      |                               +46% +50% |      |                             XXXXXX +40% |                             XXXXXX      |                             XXXXXX +30% |                             XXXXXX      |                             XXXXXX +20% |                             XXXXXX      |                             XXXXXX +10% |                             XXXXXX      |                             XXXXXX      | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX            XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX -10% | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX            XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX    xxxx      | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX            XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX     -20% | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX            XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX     -7%      | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX            XXXXXX   XXXXXX             -30% | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX            XXXXXX             -19%     Educa-      | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX             XXXX     -25%              cation -40% | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX                               Child      | XXXXXX   XXXXXX   XXXXXX             -33%    Farmers  Nutrition -50% | XXXXXX   XXXXXX    XXXX                      Home      | XXXXXX                               Mass    Admin. -60% | XXXXXX    -49%     -48%            Transit      | XXXXXX                   -70% | XXXXXX   Health   Employment      | XXXXXX    Care    & Training -80% |  xxxx   Services      |      |  -77%      | Housing              This chart measures how much spending has changed as a              result of federal budget policies from 1980 to 1990. Source: OMB (Office of Management and Budget) Watch 1731 Connecticut         Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009               J O B S   W I T H   P E A C E   C A M P A I G N             National Office: 76 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02110 Email:

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Filed under: Disinvestment

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