Speaking Out

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.—Martin Luther King Jr.

Those were the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous April 4, 1967, speech. That speech articulated the immorality of the Vietnam War. King was being faithful to his commitment to the nonviolence teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth by speaking out against injustice wherever he saw it.

How we spend our money is how we vote on what exists in the world. The hundreds of billions of tax dollars wasted annually for war and war preparation is money unavailable for programs of social uplift, especially hunger relief, poverty reduction, affordable housing, education, medical care or meaningful, life-sustaining jobs. King knew that the violence of militarism, the violence of racism and the violence of orchestrated poverty have the same sources: fear of “the other” and the willingness of the powerful elite to violently protect their own wealth and power. King was opposing an entrenched pro-war system with the capability for unleashing enormous violence against any and all perceived enemies, foreign and domestic.

In Iraq the United States has been spending 1 million taxpayer dollars every four minutes. Since 2001, Congress has appropriated $859 billion for Afghanistan, Iraq and other military operations. Tremendous fortunes are made in every war, so war is popular with the military-industrial investors, the elite, right-wing Christians, the Pentagon, the CIA, politicians, the defense industries and the people who need the work. Obscene expenditures are made for weapons research and development. Weapons manufacturers thrive and become more entrenched every year.

Martin Luther King’s antiwar stance challenged the self-interests of those in the military-industrial complex. King was correct in his prophecy that America was losing its soul. Both the affluent and the poor have succumbed to the addictions of exploitive, corrupt capitalism—an economic system that has run so far amok that it seems about to crash. Greed blows out the spark of the divine in all who succumb to it, and the loss of compassion in winners and losers worsens the plight of the suffering billions of victims whose resources have been taken from them.

Violence is epidemic, especially poverty and racism. Gun violence is also epidemic. Those making profits in the weapons industry have sabotaged even the most modest handgun and assault rifle controls—all while flooding America and the world with increasingly lethal weapons.

Ending a war isn’t the same as bringing peace. America has been on a war footing since Pearl Harbor, 67 years ago. The United States spends more on its military than the next 16 countries combined. If the U.S. government has a vision of change that goes to the heart of this country’s problems, ending our dependence on war is far more important than ending our dependence on foreign oil. Let’s abolish war like our forebears abolished slavery.

Our vision of change must be backed with economic realities that reflect our commitment to peace. The following things can be done now:
• Fund social services and take the balance out of the defense and homeland security budgets.

• Require military personnel to devote time to rebuilding infrastructure.

• Write into every defense contract a requirement for a peacetime project.

• Subsidize conversion of military companies to peaceful uses with tax incentives and funding.

• Phase out military bases (761 on foreign soil and 4,668 in the United States and convert them to housing for the poor.

• End future weapons technologies.

• Make arms dealing illegal.

At the conclusion of his speech, King said: “War is not the answer. We still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to work for peace and justice throughout the world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality and strength without sight.”

Harold A. Penner is a member of Akron (Pa.) Mennonite Church.