In recent budget negotiations, Senate Democrats agreed to a boost in military spending that exceeded the cap for fiscal 2018 by $70 billion, bringing the total request to an enormous $716 billion. Inevitably, this means more Pentagon contracts will be awarded to private corporations that use endless war to line their pockets. Democrats capitulated to this massive increase without so much as a scuffle. But the move hardly comes as a surprise, given how much money flows from weapons makers to the coffers of congressional campaigns for both parties.
While the majority of the weapons money goes to Republicans, Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Bill Nelson appear in the top ten recipients of campaign contributions–in both chambers and parties–from military contractors in 2017 and 2018. Northrop Grumman gave $785,000 to Democratic candidates since 2017.Hillary Clinton took over $1 million from the industry in 2016. Even progressive darlings like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders take money from weapons manufacturers, and Sanders supported Boeing’s disastrous F-35 because his home state had a financial stake in the program.
Yog tias tsis muaj ib tog nom tswv loj yuav sawv ntawm qhov xwm txheej no, yuav ua li cas?
One answer might be found in the recent push to divest from fossil fuel companies undertaken by, among others, Norway and New York City. By December of 2016, 688 institutions, representing over $5 trillion in assets, had divested from fossil fuels. In an interview with The Guardian, author Naomi Klein described the fossil fuel divestment effort as “a process of delegitimizing” the sector and of affirming that it yields “odious profits.”
Ib qho kev sib tw zoo sib xws rau delegitimize cov neeg tau txais txiaj ntsig ntawm kev ua tsov ua rog yog ntev dhau lawm. Ntxiv nrog rau kev txhawb nqa peb cov tswvcuab ntawm Congress kom tsis lees txais cov phiaj xwm pub dawb los ntawm cov tuam txhab tsim riam phom thiab cov neeg muaj txiaj ntsig ua tsov rog, peb yuav tsum ua kom muaj kev tawm dag zog ntawm cov tsev kawm ntawv thiab hauv nroog. Kev nqis peev hauv kev ua tsov ua rog yuav tsum tuaj ntawm tus nqi ntawm pej xeem kev txaj muag.
Cov tub ntxhais kawm ntawv hauv tsev kawm ntawv tuaj yeem thov cov ntaub ntawv tuav ntawm lawv lub tsev kawm ntawv. Feem ntau, kev nqis peev hauv cov tuam txhab tub rog tau muab ntim rau hauv cov cuab yeej nyiaj txiag nyuaj uas nws cov peev txheej tsis tau tshaj tawm rau pej xeem. Cov ntsiab lus ntawm cov cuab yeej no tuaj yeem txiav txim siab los ntawm kev tiv tauj lub tsev kawm ntawv pawg thawj coj saib xyuas lossis tus thawj saib xyuas nyiaj txiag. Tom qab ntawd ib qho kev sib tw khiav tawm tuaj yeem raug tsim tawm, tsim kev sib koom ua ke hauv tsev kawm ntawv, tsim cov ntawv thov, teeb tsa kev ncaj ncees thiab dhau cov kev daws teeb meem los ntawm tsoomfwv cov tub ntxhais kawm. Yuav nrhiav tau ib daim ntawv qhia pab rau tub kawm ntawv activists no.
Activists can launch municipal divestment efforts by determining the holdings of city pension, utility, or insurance funds. In 2017 the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the national association of cities with populations over 30,000, adopted a resolution acknowledging the need to transform funding priorities away from war-making and into local communities. Divestment campaigns can leverage this resolution in order to hold city leaders to their word. More information for activists at the city level is available no.
Divestment offers an alternate means of addressing the blight of war profiteering in an era in which traditional political routes have been closed by our craven representatives. It also brings the message into smaller communities–communities that crumble while defense contractors live in luxury.
Lub koom haum tshiab ntawm kwv yees li 70 pab pawg thoob plaws lub tebchaws tau tsim los tsim kev sib tw Divest From the War Machine campaign. Lub koom haum tau caw txhua tus neeg uas ntxub cov neeg ua tsov ua rog los pab galvanize tsev kawm ntawv, nroog, nyiaj laus thiab kev ntseeg kom tawm ntawm kev ua tsov ua rog.. Kawm ntxiv ntawm: http://www.divestfromwarmachine.org/
Hauv kev hais lus xyoo 2015 rau US Congress, Congress heev uas tau pom zoo rau lub tshuab ua tsov rog, Pope Francis nug tias yog vim li cas riam phom tuag tau raug muag rau cov neeg uas ua rau muaj kev txom nyem tsis paub txog hauv zej zog. Lo lus teb, nws hais tias, yog nyiaj, "nyiaj uas ntws hauv ntshav, feem ntau yog ntshav dawb huv." Saib ntawm chav uas muaj cov neeg sawv cev uas tau txais txiaj ntsig los ntawm qhov nws hu ua "cov tub lag luam ntawm kev tuag," Pope tau thov kom tshem tawm kev lag luam riam phom. Ib txoj hauv kev los ua raws li Pope txoj kev hu yog noj tam sim ntawm cov txiaj ntsig ntawm cov neeg uas ua rau kev tua neeg tua.
ZNetwork tau txais nyiaj tsuas yog los ntawm kev ua siab zoo ntawm nws cov neeg nyeem.
Pab Nyiaj