U.S. is proliferating war for profit and power

LETTER

Morality and ethics in politics?

Is this such an oxymoron that the two can’t be fused. Confused at best. Did we lose all morality with the fusion of nuclear materials. Ever since the first bomb dropped, our congressional representatives have lobbied for more bombs and more money to turn our beautiful enchanted state into a national sacrifice area to the god of war.

No matter what party, they have all toed the line and lobbied for funds for more military buildup. CRS taxes support our state budget, and all the contracts and subcontracts at our national labs are important to the money crunchers.

Never mind that peace activists and visionaries put forth alternatives — research and jobs in renewables that could transform our labs into something to be proud of, while still bringing in money to the state. Coal and nuclear is the energy and economy of the past, solar and other renewables the energy and economy of the future.

How do we get our leaders to step out of the shadow of war and into the sun? Silence is also a form of assent. I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I want someone (many) to step up and reclaim ethics, and begin to turn this ship of state in a moral direction. Fiftyplus years of speaking against nuclear weapons has done little. Treaties have been signed and broken over and over. Lessons from the past are not learned.

Again, they want Los Alamos to become a plutonium pit factory for a whole new generation of bombs. Never mind the lessons of Rocky Flats or the fact that we sanction and bomb other countries for even the rumor of nuclear buildup. Let’s ask (demand) that our candidates address this issue and take a stand for an economy based on peace instead of war. Idealistic, I realize.

It is painfully obvious that we have become the arms dealer of the world, proliferating war for power and profit. Our leaders lie, and we sit back and remain distracted. We are insulated because the bombs aren’t dropping here. Where violence and massacre touch home, youth are rising up and demanding gun sense.

Let’s support them, and help their voice to spread and touch potential leaders and new candidates who are truly progressive. School shootings are merely a microcosm of the larger issue of war mongering on an international scale. A stand on the one is a pebble tossed into the water. Keep tossing them so the ripples spread and gun sense expands to include all weapons of destruction.

JEAN NICHOLS Llano