"What if the billions of dollars spent - just on the Iraqi 'war' - had, instead, been spent of peaceful efforts or environmental projects? What if the billions of dollars spent on all wars in the twentieth century had, instead, gone toward repairing America's crumbling infrastructure, rebuilding America's schools, or improving America's education programs?"
That question had been bantered back-and-forth at the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. St. Kitts headquarters even before the infamous January 17th bombings that had so critically annihilated most of the U.S. government, most of the upper-crust society, and most of the giant corporate conglomerates who controlled Congress.
Corporations who made their excessive profits building bombs, tanks and missiles could - instead - make more modest profits manufacturing machinery and vehicles that were fuel-efficient and durable. Imagine if General Motors could assemble a car that would last for twenty years or 500,000 miles! The technology was there - and had been there for decades; but no corporation wanted to suppress its profitability by building something that wasn't scheduled for 'planned obsolescence'. Why would any company want to do something for the sake of society, the ecology, or the national good?
Magazine publishers who splashed the sins of America's celebrities over their glossy color pages could have just as easily printed stories about environmental and social issues. But where was the 'glitz' in that?
Giant media conglomerates sensationalized their 'news' reports with accounts that sizzled. Moviemakers didn't see the value of smaller profits in making films about family values or moral behavior. 'Sin sells", "sex sells", "sensationalism sells", the money-makers hollered. And they fought tooth-and-nail to prevent government from interfering in their sleazy business ventures.
Even the federal government became tainted by its own manipulation of the media. Routinely, the Bush administration had learned to make the media its puppet. Organized religious organizations thrived on lies, scandals, and manipulation. It was as if the country only saw one option: 'sell, sell, sell..." Making money was all that mattered - not HOW you made it, not how many lives you destroyed in the process, not how you impacted on the cultural components of our social fabric. All that mattered was making money. Millions and millions, billions and billions - all because the rich and famous coveted more wealth and fame. At any cost. At any detriment.
A song from the 1960's summed it all up: "Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend. Do it in the name of Heaven; you can justify if in the end." War was among the most profitable of all enterprises...and to maintain that level of high profitability, the federal government had to constantly churn the butter, grease the wheels, and keep the wars coming.
Spread a little hatred; tell a few well-leaked lies; create enough doubt or fabricate sufficient 'evidence'. Keep the majority of the country - and Congress - off balance, just so that they would be intimidated into going along with whatever the Warrior George Bush and his legions of profiteers wanted. While previous administrations had initiated such evil tactics, only the Bush administration had elevated it all to an astonishing art form.
Now, the country was engaged in two 'wars' - one in Iraq and the other in Iran. Even though newly-powerful Democrats made urgent attempts to end the Iraqi war as early as the beginning of 2007, George W. Bush was determined to move forward with his plans to rule the world and capture all the cheap, easily-accessible OIL he could. By the beginning of 2008, the United States of America was embroiled in world conflict that would not easily be erased.
The rest of the world despised America. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. had its hands full. Colin Powell and John McCain looked forward to new elections that would bring some degree of sanity to government. Something neither man had seen in his respective years of government servitude. There were new political parties with outstanding platforms. There were fresh faces who came from all walks of life (instead of the millionaires who normally upped the ante of political campaigns, forcing the 'little guy' from competing in what had become a rich man's game). What would happen on November 4, 2008? Only God knew for sure, but one thing was certain: it was bound to be the most terrific Tuesday Americans ever experienced since the days of the first American Revolution or the famous Boston Tea Party.