CB
%%%%%
THE TRUTH ABOUT TANKS (AND OTHER MILITARY VEHICLES)
This year the auto show is placing military vehicles under the spotlight for the first time. In doing so they are shamelessly glorifying death and war. While such vehicles might look cool, the ugly truth is they are designed to kill people like us. Working people-especially people of color-are the ones who fight and die in wars. When we ooh and ahh at military marvels we are really celebrating our own death.
Make no mistake, the manufacturers of military vehicles are in business to make a buck and aren't particularly concerned about who they sell them to. The tanks the Taliban used in Afghanistan were originally given to them by U.S. manufacturers with the grace of the U.S. government. After all today's "friends" are tomorrow's enemies and arms dealers could care less who dies as long as they make money.
The truth about tanks and other military machines is that they help kill people. Whether "their" tanks kill us or "our" tanks kill people just like us, the net result is the same: Regular people die to serve the interests of people who don't fight-politicians and arms manufacturers. They're the folks who need to be under the spotlights, not military vehicles.
<NEXT ARTICLE>
SAY NO TO MILITARY VEHICLES AT THE AUTO SHOW!!!
WHAT WE FORGET
This year the folks behind the auto show are eager to fuel war fever by putting the spotlight on military vehicles. They no doubt wish to draw people to the show, but it is likely that the organizers also wish to distract people with that old standby-war hysteria. In our rush to embrace war we are forgetting that:
* We are in a recession: At least 8 million people have lost their jobs since Sept 11. Bush is using his war to sidestep the current recession and the threat of more job losses. Killing people in far off lands will not feed us or our families if we get laid off. We need to address these issues to ensure that we can take care of ourselves and our communities. These are difficult times we are entering and waving flags around at the auto show does not unfortunately wave away these problems.
* The warmongers are also waging economic war on us:
On one hand Bush is using September 11th and the war as cover to mount attacks on workers through his tax scams, and his rollbacks on environmental and worker safety standards. On the other hand the war is distracting us from the obscenely rich multinationals who are squeezing people like us dry through downsizing and corporate globalization. Downsizing means companies slash as many jobs and benefits as possible in order to raise CEO salaries and profits for shareholders. Globalization is a lose-lose situation where businesses run around the global to find out who they can who they can pay the least and abuse the most. Right now there is a growing movement to deal with this war against working people, Bush and his wealthy allies are trying to drown this movement out with their calls for revenge and violence.
* The auto manufacturers themselves are profiting off of other people's death:
Let's face it the same folks who make the cars we drive also have a role in the manufacturing of war machines like tanks and jeeps. They want war-as much of it as possible-because it put money in their pockets. In particular war in the arab world holds the promise of more and cheaper oil. The cheaper oil is the more people drive their cars and the quicker they wear them out and by new ones. Success in Afghanistan also promises a lucrative oil pipeline for oil barons. War may be a frightening deadly experience for the folks who end up fighting them, but to the auto manufacturers they mean more business as usual.
*We are waging war ourselves:
As taxpayers, we are funding this war. As consumers we bear a responsibility for encouraging the war by making it profitable. Our car-driven culture and our oil consumption have oil barons and car execs smacking there lips. Let's play a part in saving lives, by reducing our driving and finding other ways to get around, as well as demanding an end to this war and wars like it in the future.
LET'S END THIS WAR AND START FIGHTING FOR A BETTER LIFE FOR EVERYONE!!!