Addicted to War

On 9/11, Bush went to that school to declare War on Illiteracy.

by Bruce Schimmel

By the time you read this, I hope Americans have elected a new president in an honest election that's worthy of the world's oldest democracy.

But no matter the victor, his prime goal should be to restore our respect for peace.

Our warring ways are destroying our economy, our planet and our people. And we will either learn to make ploughshares from swords, or murder each other with them.

At the height of the Cold War, a Republican president and former WWII general first cautioned us against becoming a nation addicted to war.

In his farewell speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of what he called the "military-industrial complex." Ike feared that its "total influence — economic, political, even spiritual" would poison "every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government."

Tragically, today, Eisenhower's nightmare has come true.

We now have the Bush Doctrine, which begins wars with little thought of ending them — or even of whether "winning" is possible.

Our military and our industry have merged, as a vice president outsources war-making to corporate buddies.

And, as a people, Americans are so blinded by aggression that under the guise of stopping drugs or combating terror, we'll wage war on ourselves.

Somewhere, between FDR's New Deal and Bush's War on Terror, we've been ensnared by the allure of war. Somehow, the war metaphor became our prime mover.

I think we first fell under war's spell with Lyndon Johnson. With our nation's soul muddied by Vietnam, Johnson's grand plan for a Great Society narrowed to a War on Poverty.

When, a few years later, narcotics flooded the cities, President Nixon declared a War on Drugs — which blindly rages today.

Even during Bill Clinton's tenure, marked by little official war-making, the hawkish declared a Culture War that nearly took down the finest president in recent memory.

As for our current commander in chief, well, it seems he's always been jonesing for a fight. Bush came to office with a promise to fight the "elites" — who themselves were accused of fomenting "class warfare."

But even before 9/11, Bush adored war. As planes crashed into the World Trade Center, our president was getting ready to fire the first salvo in another, brand-new war.

Check the record, it's true: Bush went to that elementary school to read to the kids, and to declare, yes, his War on Illiteracy.

A War on Illiteracy may sound funny today (especially considering who declared it). But, really, is such a war any more absurd than waging battle against "terror"?

I think we've come to the point in our evolution where war doesn't make sense anymore.

So, from our new president, we need a new call to arms (if you will). Because even the warmongers now in power, when faced with a financial meltdown, have been unable to coin a believable bellicose slogan.

Without a war metaphor to guide us, we've had no light at all. And so it falls to the next president to find a new trope — a new myth and way of thinking — to lead us to peace and prosperity.

If the vote has gone well, and Obama is elected, I hope to be inspired by a vision of a world after war, that of a more perfect union. Today, as Americans vote, that's my hope.

Come Plant a Fruitful Future

Instead of individual gifts, last holiday season I decided to give a community orchard — and it's finally going into the ground. Please join me this Saturday, Nov. 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain date: Nov. 9), as dozens of fruit trees and berry bushes are planted on the grounds of the historic Woodford Mansion in East Fairmount. It's a kid-friendly event, with food and free coloring posters, at 33rdand Dauphin streets. For more information, call 215-229-6115 or visit woodfordmansion.org.

(bruce@schimmel.com)