Nine Steps to Peace for Obama in the New Year

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

Deepak Chopra has sent a memo to President-Elect Barack Obama, outlining 9 steps

for peace in the New Year. Chopra must really be commended for this memo, which

has some very wise advice for the President-Elect.

 

Enjoy the memo,

 

violet

 

 

 

Nine Steps to Peace For Barack Obama

 

You have been elected by the first anti-war constituency since 1952, when Dwight

D. Eisenhower was elected after promising to end the Korean War. But ending a

war isn't the same as bringing peace. America has been on a war footing since

the day after Pearl Harbor, 67 years ago. We spend more on our military than the

next 16 countries combined. If you have a vision of change that goes to the

heart of this country's deep problems, ending our dependence on war is far more

important than ending our dependency on foreign oil.

 

The most immediate changes are economic. Unless it can make as much money as

war, peace doesn't stand a chance. Since aerospace and military technologies

remain the United States' most destructive export, fostering wars around the

world, what steps can we take to reverse that trend and build a peace-based

economy?

 

1. Scale out arms dealing and make it illegal by the year 2020.

 

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

 

3. Subsidize conversion of military companies to peaceful uses with tax

incentives and direct funding.

 

4. Convert military bases to housing for the poor.

 

5. Phase out all foreign military bases.

 

6. Require military personnel to devote part of their time to rebuilding

infrastructure.

 

7. Call a moratorium on future weapons technologies.

 

8. Reduce armaments like destroyers and submarines that have no use against

terrorism and were intended to defend against a superpower enemy that no longer

exists.

 

9. Fully fund social services and take the balance out of the defense and

homeland security budgets.

 

These are just the beginning. We don't lack creativity in coping with change.

Without a conversion of our present war economy to a peace economy, the high

profits of the military-industrial complex ensures that it will never end.

 

Do these nine steps seem unrealistic or fanciful? In various ways, other

countries have adopted similar measures. The former Soviet army is occupied with

farming and other peaceful work, for example. But comparisons are rather

pointless, since only the United States is burdened with such a massive reliance

on defense spending. Ultimately, empire follows the dollar. As a society, we

want peace, and we want to be seen as a nation that promotes peace. For either

ideal to come true, you as president must back up your vision of change with

economic reality. So far, that hasn't happened under any of your predecessors.

All hopes are pinned on you.

 

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Deepak Chopra is acknowledged as one of the world's greatest leaders in the

field of mind-body medicine. He is the author of over 50 books, including

" Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment " and " Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. "

 

http://www.truthout.org/010109A