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San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz Counties, CA June 3, 2008 Election
Smart Voter

Redirect Resources from "Fake Security" to "Real Security"

By Carol L. (Shepard) Brouillet

Candidate for United States Representative; District 14; Green Party

This information is provided by the candidate
The military's budget threatens American citizens and all people. Resources should be redirected from killing and controlling people towards healing and nurturing life. Security needs to be redefined as health, well being, inner peace of the individual whose needs are met, who maintains healthy, peaceful relationships with their family, community, country, and the world.
The heart of the global economy is a war economy. War is big business where major contracts go to transnational corporations that profit from the destruction and rebuilding of entire countries, which allow them to plunder strategic resources throughout the world. A few wealthy people benefit monetarily, but there is a tremendous cost involved for the vast majority of people, and the environmental toll is staggering. If we do not change the course that we are on, there will continue to be tremendous human suffering, an increasing gap between the rich and the poor, and environmental devastation that will render the entire planet uninhabitable for human life.

Most people simply want to live and let live, and harbor no great imperial designs. In order to support a war, people must be fooled or tricked; this has happened throughout human history. The United States of America is not immune to this pattern. A close examination of the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, World War II, the Vietnam War, Gulf War I & II, and the war against Afghanistan reveal a number of hoaxes, and false flag operations.

Day of Deceit by Robert Stinnett meticulously challenges the surprize "Attack on Pearl Harbor" recounted in history books. Stinnett provides evidence that F.D.R. asked for, received, and carried out an eight point plan that deliberately provoked the Japanese into attacking America. He knew, in advance, of the planned attack on Pearl Harbor and failed to warn Admiral Kimmel. Admiral Kimmel became the "fall guy" for the devastating attacks.

His grandson, testified at the Toronto International Inquiry into 9-11, and mentioned that the CIA was created to "Prevent Another Pearl Harbor." As Pearl Harbor was used to create the "National Security State," and a CIA, notorious worldwide for overthrowing democracies and installing brutal military regimes, 9/11 has been used to expand the official US spy agencies to facilitate a "Global Security State," and for the US to gain notoriety for war crimes, prison abuse, and torture.

The new growing markets are for surveillance equipment, mercenaries, and "private security firms." This trend does not bode well for civil or human rights anywhere in the world, and encourages other countries to participate in the U.S. "crackdown on terrorism," a euphemism to opposition to American corporate domination. These policies increase and exasperate violence globally, which is profitable for the war/arms industry, but very harmful for most people.

One of the greatest threats to U.S. policy, identified by Rumsfeld and the military, is their failure to be able to control all information, and convince people worldwide of the "benefits of US policy and military actions." Despite an enormous budget which allows the CIA to greatly influence news in the United States and abroad, there is such a huge disparity between physical reality and "spin" that people are questioning official statements about policies, the war, the living conditions of people in nations occupied by U.S. forces. Worldwide opinion has turned against the U.S., particularly the new doctrine of "pre-emptive war" against any who might someday challenge U.S. hegemony.

There is a simple solution to this problem. The U.S. should redirect its budget from "killing and controlling" via its military and spy agencies towards healing and helping people in the U.S. and the world who need and ask for assistance. A fraction of the military budget could supply good water, food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education, utilities, communications technologies to most of humanity.

The concentration of wealth and power points to how the situation could be reversed. People and communities need to be empowered to have greater control over their own resources, land, water, utilities, food, resources, communications. Corporations must be prevented from privatizing the "commons" and reined in from exercising monopoly power over the vital resources needed by all healthy communities. Governments should serve and protect people. Departments which threaten and harm people, or the environment, upon which all life depends, should not be funded. Those departments and services which benefit and serve people, protect the environment, and the health and well being of the communities whose lives they touch should receive funding.

The trend has been to lower health, environmental, labor standards to "increase competion" in the name of "free trade." However "free trade" has meant a free ride for corporations seeking to evade taxes, exploit people and the environment for short-term profits. "Fair trade" encourages raising corporate taxes, raising wages, protecting people from unfair practices, raising environmental standards. By improving living, working and environmental conditions everywhere, there will be fewer environmental and economic refugees. We must not waste the precious intellectual, physical, and human resources devising and employing increasingly sophisticated weapons of war when they are needed so desperately to save and improve human lives, and the biosphere which is threatened by the technologically assisted plunder that the last two centuries have witnessed. We need to stop funding death and destruction, and put our time, money and energy into that which we love and value- life and a healthier, happier, better future for all beings.

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ca/state Created from information supplied by the candidate: April 24, 2008 06:47
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