Photo by Erik McGregor
The biggest war in Europe since World War II is throwing a lot of things into sharp relief. It is showing that the corporations and billionaires who run our country put their needs above those of the American people and even above the continued existence of humanity. It is showing that the threat of nuclear war is very real, and that most Americans have no desire to perpetuate this war.
In recent polls, more than 80% of Americans said their two biggest concerns were inflation (especially the price of gasoline, food, rent, etc.) and the danger that the Ukraine war could escalate into a nuclear war between Russia and the U.S.
American corporations have their eye on making money and keeping the European market in their hip pocket (and keeping the Russians and the Chinese out). Rather than pursuing peace and prosperity at home and abroad, our government is funding the agenda of the big corporations — an agenda that will plunge hundreds of millions into poverty, displace millions, and possibly end life on earth.
A look at military spending tells us a lot. Congress approved $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine in early March, about half of it for weapons, military supplies and U.S. troop deployments. And since last August, President Biden and the Pentagon have given Ukraine an additional $3 billion in military aid through executive action. This is throwing gasoline on the fire. Humanitarian aid is the smallest piece of what is going to Ukraine.
All this is on top of the eye-popping level of “normal” U.S. military spending, typically approved with large bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress. If you add to the basic military budget the military spending that is outside the Defense Department budget, the total for fiscal 2022 is well over $1 trillion.
Biden’s proposed budget for fiscal 2023 includes $813 billion just for the basic military budget (more than the defense budgets of the next 11 countries combined). The military and law enforcement get twice as much funding as social programs in Biden’s proposed budget.
In America, the military-industrial complex is a huge part of the economy and has enormous influence on where our tax dollars go. An army of 650 lobbyists harangues Congress on behalf of more than 200 military contractors. Just the top five military contractors — Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics and Northrup Grumman — take in some $282 billion a year in revenue and employ over 707,000 people. The U.S. is the biggest arms dealer in the world.
Clearly the U.S. military-industrial complex and oil companies have a vested interest in keeping the war going. The U.S. oil industry is interested in profiting from substituting American natural gas for Russian natural gas in Europe. They don’t care that boosting the production of fossil fuels deepens the climate crisis.
The same Congress and White House that rush to fund war for the corporations couldn’t manage to pass the Build Back Better Act, or a federal bill to protect our voting rights, or deal properly with the climate crisis, pass health care for all, or find more money for pandemic relief. Meanwhile, people in Flint, Michigan still don’t have clean water after eight years, almost half our population lives in poverty, millions are without proper health care, millions are hungry, homeless or facing eviction in a weak economy, prices are skyrocketing, and the pandemic rages on.
A recent United Nations report found that the price of food is up 34% worldwide compared to a year ago. David Beasley, chief of the World Food Programme, noted recently that “45 million people in 38 countries are knocking on famine’s door.” He said increased food, fuel and shipping costs were already a problem, and now the expected reduction in Ukraine’s food production is an added blow. Ukraine, called one of the breadbaskets of the world, normally produces enough food to feed 400 million people.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress recently cut additional food aid from a Covid relief bill.
“There is $430 trillion of wealth in the world,” said Beasley. “There is no reason a single child should be dying of hunger.” Beasley said the U.S. and other governments need to step up and increase funding for food aid.
By continuing to funnel arms into Ukraine, the U.S. government and American corporations are prolonging the war and thus increasing the danger that it will escalate into something that could destroy the world.
We, the people, need to stand up and stop this war. It does not serve any of us to escalate the danger of nuclear war, or to perpetuate the arms race to line the pockets of U.S. military contractors, or to make the oil industry richer.
The U.S. government’s response to the war does show us that massive social resources can be mobilized in a hurry when the government wants to. If U.S. executive orders can be signed to spend billions of America’s tax dollars on war in Ukraine, such executive orders can be signed to feed, clothe and shelter people and provide health care instead.
This is a turning point for humanity, for better or worse — either we stop following the lead of corporations and billionaires and put the people of the world first, or we descend into the abyss of another world war and destroy ourselves.
The American people have a key role to play in building a huge global peace movement. We must rein in the U.S. government and corporations and stop the U.S. contribution to the war. No more policies that keep us on a path to nuclear war while making us go hungry. We need to drastically cut the military budget and spend the money on human needs at home and abroad and on rebuilding our infrastructure. In this direction lies peace for Ukraine and for all of us.
