HOW ABOUT A VISION?

It's a slow photo day for me, yet to get the snaps from our visit to DMZ yesterday, so will write a bit about our trip to solar center in Gimhae some days ago.

This facility is quite remarkable as it serves two functions. The first of course is to generate a large amount of power for the city's use and the second is to serve as a teaching center for school children to come and learn about solar. Why can't we be doing more of this in the US instead of building more weapons of war?

It's all about vision. Our work in the peace movement should not only be "against" war, but we should in our second breath be projecting our vision for the future which should include the phrase "and we do have a crisis today and it is called climate change!"

We've got to keep reminding the American people, who are job scared these days, that more jobs could be created by moving money out of military spending into solar, wind, rail, etc.

Now it is true that many environmental activists are indeed talking about solar, wind, rail, etc ....but when you ask most of them where they will get the money to build these systems on a grand scale they usually don't have an answer. They feel they have a "relationship" with the Democrats and don't want to lose their "access" to these politicians by bringing up the controversial subject of military spending.

But let's get real here......unless we cut the military budget, that today is grabbing 54% of every federal tax dollar, then nothing on the dramatic scale needed to seriously impact climate change is going to happen.

It can be done but not without a serious national commitment. You can't have a killing culture and a sustainable culture. The American people have a choice to make. It is our job to bring that crystal clear choice to center stage.