By Jim Ramelis | PDA Blog Contributor

The 4th of July is here and it is time for patriotism, flag waving, parades and fireworks. The 4th is about picnics, fun, sunburns, baseball games and a celebration of America. It has always been one of my favorite holidays, probably because I have spent most of my life in Michigan, and the 4th is a holiday that usually is a warm sunny day. It is a day of bands and color and pageantry and community.

The 4th of July is also a celebration of our military prowess with lots of flags, veterans marching, and guns. I am a veteran and a patriot .I love what my country has tried to be over the centuries and what it has the potential to be. I don’t always love what it has done over history. I am not a pacifist but would like to be; I am just not there yet and probably won’t ever be, but I keep trying. Gandhi said be the change you want so I try to be peaceful in thought and action. I haven’t achieved Christ or Buddha like consciousness though, and obviously neither has the world. I think we need a military. I would not be like the Tibetan monks who sat by and watched as the Chinese butchered their fellow monks and citizens when the Chinese invaded Tibet and took it over. I would fight back if someone invaded my country. I am not ready to lay down all arms, join hands, and sing, Kumbaya . Another people or peoples would come and butcher us and take our land and control our people, much as the Chinese did to the Tibetans and the prize of America would be much more appetizing to a predator nation than Tibet. Over the years, we have made a lot of enemies who have a score to settle. I think there is a time to fight and defend one’s country. That time should be rare and only after all options are exhausted . That is the idea that our Founding Fathers had in mind, and we are not following that ideal.

I am writing this article because the extent of our militarization is no longer about defending our country. Our military is about preserving, defending, and expanding an empire. Like Rome, our Republic is in danger because it has decided to take the route of empire. The extent of our empire is unknown to most Americans, as is its implications for our Republic’s citizens. The mission of our military is also clouded in myth for most Americans. Most Americans believe that we are about defending ourselves and standing for truth, freedom, and democracy, all over the world. We stubbornly cling to this belief, like the 12 year old that just can’t come to terms with the idea that there is no Santa Claus, even though all the other kids his age know there isn’t a real Santa. We Americans like to believe we are like a heavily armed wonderful Santa Claus, out in the world “giving’ other nations things and preserving truth, freedom, and democracy. We Americans need to take a good long hard look at ourselves in the mirror and do an empirical assessment of what it is we are really about in the world and what our military is really doing.

The truth is that the American empire circles the globe in a way that Rome, Alexander the Great, the Mongols, the Byzantine, the Ottoman, and the British never did. The difference in our empire and those past is that they controlled huge land masses and had direct control of the conquered countries governments. The U.S. plants a military base in or near a country and exerts economic control and pressures. There is always a big gun aimed in the direction of the countries we control economically but as long as the country cooperates, we threaten no violence. We really don’t care if the country is a democracy or totalitarian and repressive one like Communist China. Our empire is all about money. The intent of our empire is similar to those of past empires; we want natural resources and cheap labor. The booty goes to American based multi-national corporations. The sad truth is that the American military is not about defending truth, freedom, justice and democracy in the world, it is the police force and enforcer for corporate power.
What is the truth about our military? We now outspend all the rest of the world combined on military expenditures. Our military empire is so vast, it almost can’t be counted. The Department of Defense says its physical assets are more than 600,000 individual buildings and structures at more than 6,000 locations, on more than 30 million acres. Of these 6,000 locations, it is estimated that 1,000 of them are on soils other than that of the U.S.A. There are 192 countries in the world and we have a military presence in 135 of them.

We are out of control on this 4th of July. We have blown the proverbial gasket. Americans have got to get informed and let their elected Representative know they want the whole paradigm shifted. We want healthcare, good roads, quality education, and not endless perpetual warfare. This veteran is not advocating they we lay down all our arms at this minute in history, we need to be able to defend ourselves. The bellicose aggressive path that we have taken, full of hubris and arrogance is doomed to failure. No one likes having a gun pointed to their head and being told what to do. The world is groaning under our empire. Sophisticated methods of communication has made the world a smaller place today than in the days of Rome and the British Empire and other countries are all talking to each other. They understand now what the American empire is all about. They want their freedom, just as we want ours.

The problem is most Americans don’t understand what the American empire is all about. Americans still naively think our troops out there in far away places defending democracy for the world and “fighting for freedom”. We need to let people know that they are fighting for things like Communist China, one of the most totalitarian and repressive nations on earth, to take jobs away from American labor while they pollute their own country and foul the air and water of the world so the corporations can make more money. They are fighting in Iraq because the flow of oil must be controlled to maximize profit for the oil companies. If rogue producers put out too much oil on the market, it spoils the profit system. The idea is to destroy the free market on oil. As this is being written, Iraqi oil is being put up for bids to the multi-nationals as American troops retreat from the cities. A plan has come together. How many American arms and legs were blown off for that plan to come together?

Two good places to start to do something about it are: The Progressive Democrats of America have a “Healthcare not Warfare” campaign http://pdamerica.org/ that is worth looking into. The Peace Alliance is working for a cabinet level Department of Peace, that would have equal footing with other executive cabinets and would work for peaceful solutions to problems of violence ranging from school yard bullying to worldwide global violence http://www.thepeacealliance.org/ ; and they have a new site for activists at http://dopeace.ning.com/. For fellow veterans, who can’t relate to the right wing belligerent tone of most of the service organizations, Veterans for Peace has plenty of interesting ideas http://www.veteransforpeace.org/.
Peace and compassion to the entire world from an American Veteran on the 4th of July.

Jim Ramelis served in Vietnam from December 1970 to January 1972, he is a Veteran for Peace