The Politics of Love
Militarism, the whole idea of war, is based on gaining victory over your opponents. Ever since Bush invaded Iraq he has been seeking victory. Instead of victory, we are faced with a huge quagmire. Shiite, Sunni, Kurds and Americans are dying daily. They hate each other and they kill each other. What a horrible mess. Maybe we would be better off if we substituted the politics of love for the current politics of hate.
It sounds polyannish. If we can't win with our great military might, we definitely will not win with love. Very logical and very practical reasoning. However, we're not winning; we're losing. We're not imposing our will; others are imposing their will. We're not achieving any of our goals; our enemies are achieving their goals. So maybe it's time to change our thinking.
Let's throw away the hate bug and lift up the love bug. This is the essence of an article I just read on the Internet. The title is "On November 7, Be Smart: Vote for Love," by Patch Adams. Of course, Adams (who by the way, is an M.D.) says this in answer to the legion of skeptics:
For those who say that a love platform is ridiculous and naive, I ask them to compare the results of the $300 billion we’ve spent on war in Iraq with what we would get if we had spent that money on setting up health clinics all over the world and feeding people who are hungry. I travel around the world and meet lots of people who fear and hate us. If we spent our energy and resources uplifting people in need—spreading laughter and light instead of bombs and bullets—we’d live in a world that was happier, healthier and safer.
$300 billion is way, way on the low side. But just think of it, $300 billion properly used in a program stressing love for all mankind, the number of terrorists would fall like a meteor and the number of people that loved America would rise like a rocket.
Patch Adams has a great idea. And he instructs us how to get started implementing it:
So come November 7, be smart. Vote out stupid and arrogant candidates who think that occupying Iraq by force or bombing Iran will make us safe. And vote for candidates who understand the simple notion that love is not only the best medicine, it’s also smart policy.
You know who they are. Most of them are Democrats.
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