Imagining a Better 2014

2013 is winding down.  We've already posted the best news of the year, so let's imagine what 2014 might look like if peace and justice somehow overwhelmed the nations of the world.

The late Howard Zinn wrote in A People's History of the United States that the world would be a better place if  the United States chose to be a humanitarian, rather than a military, superpower - using "this wealth to improve the living conditions of Americans and people in other parts of the world."  This seems like a good place to start.  Can you imagine what the world would be like if the US military budget since the end of the Cold War was used for humanitarian purposes?  Since 1989, the United States has spent more than $13 trillion on its military budget.  The impact that this sum might have had on education, disease eradication, agricultural improvements and poverty reduction is staggering.  As Zinn notes "it was estimated by the World Health Organization that a small portion of the American military budget, if given to the treatment of tuberculosis in the world, could save millions of lives."

By implementing policies that advance the world's well-being, we would take a giant step towards reducing some of the traditional causes of unrest and war.  And in securing our own safety.  It's a myth that terrorists hate us because of our freedoms.  They hate us because of our policies.  Empire has a cost that there is no need to bear any longer.  Peacefully supporting the right to self-determination would show that our concept of democracy extends to all people.

Stopping the flow of arms and military aid would reduce tensions and the possibility of war.  Here at home, removing weapons from the streets and keeping them from the hands of felons and the mentally unstable would make our own country a safer place.  Finally, the United States and other countries with atomic weapons could provide the world with a real example of non-proliferation by dismantling its nuclear arsenals.

Pope Francis has it right.  As the dominant global economic system, capitalism should be regulated so that its benefits accrue to all, not just to a small percentage.  Economic inequality can be overcome by a just system of taxation and regulation.  Or as Nelson Mandela said, "Poverty is not an accident.  Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings."

That leads us to a final consideration.  What do we do about racism, sectarian violence and tribal and nationalistic hatreds?   It all comes down to fear and demonization of "the other".  In October  Pope Francis stressed the need to fight "all forms of racism, intolerance and anti-Semitism" and noted that "every time a minority is persecuted and marginalised because of his religious beliefs or ethnicity, the good of the whole society is in danger”.  [Catholic Herald] But what to do about it?  Here's Nelson Mandela again: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." 

Maybe peace and justice on earth in 2014 are too much to hope for.  But we can at least make a step forward in our own lives and behavior.  And we can recognize for what they are, those damaging and divisive ideologies and policies that move us away from a better world.