Costa Rica and A World Beyond War

It's a subject so huge, hard to find where to talk about it.

Thankfully there are writers here who care about US policy of endless war and are willing to post about it.

Always surprising to also find people who have not given up, who have a vision and are working for change -- now.

Remember David Swanson ? He often took it on the chin back at TOP.
Here's an online course that he tweeted about that should be interesting.

We will be heading back for our annual stay in Costa Rica soon. For years I have admired Costa Rica for getting rid of their military and investing in green energy.

What would it take for us to pull that off? We have to begin somewhere....

So many needs are going unmet. Action !

People all over the planet are ready for a change.

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Big Al's picture

probably about 8-9 years ago now I came upon a youtube video of Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens) performing at a Nobel peace prize concert, the first time he'd performed in quite a long time. He sang Peace Train of course, awesomely. But what really got me, because I'm a sap, were the comments underneath the video. Someone started early on by simply saying "Peace from ______". That was contagious as nearly everyone after that posted a comment simply saying "Peace from _____". There were a lot of comments and I ended up going thru each one and charting where each was from. I counted about 108 countries and nearly every state in this country. I remember writing a diary about that and posting it at Daily Kos. Probably some of the people here can remember that. It touched me and verified what I already knew, people all over the world want peace, we're all the same. I too have been all over the world and met people from many different countries. We're divided by our governments and those that control them.
I think this was the video. I noticed a number of years ago the comments had been disabled, I don't know why. Maybe someone didn't want to see the possibilities for global solidarity for peace.

[video:https://youtu.be/gLG91tOLPdQ]

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divineorder's picture

@Big Al @Big Al

We the people of this planet have been less than successful stopping these wars but we can never give up.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Bisbonian's picture

@Big Al

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Big Al

I think this was the video. I noticed a number of years ago the comments had been disabled, I don't know why. Maybe someone didn't want to see the possibilities for global solidarity for peace.

More likely, so many "Peace from _______" comments were being logged that the size of the video's database entry was threatening to become unmanageably large, which would render the video itself unplayable.

Still, for those of us with ears to hear and eyes to see, the message is quite clear! Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

earthling1's picture

to Costa Rica, I was struck by how proud the people were of not having a military. PROUD they were.
I couldn't help thinking how courageous these people are. Pura vida.
And here we are looking under our beds for terrorists or other boogie men.
"Home of the brave". Hrummp! Pathetic.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

divineorder's picture

@earthling1 in a Costa Rican port last year, apparently a regular visitor for what reason? Locals said something to do with 'drogas.'

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

In Costa Rica is such a wonderful thing and it seems they have money to spend on some of the needs of the people like Universal Health Care. Did some more reading about this and ex-pats can also get this Universal Heath Care as well.

I know we use a dentist in Costa Rica for a fraction of the cost here in the United States and she has top of the line dental equipment and top notch service. We stumbled onto her business one of our first trips to Puerto Jiminez and now plan our visit to include a yearly checkup from her!

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

thanatokephaloides's picture

@jakkalbessie

No military In Costa Rica is such a wonderful thing and it seems they have money to spend on some of the needs of the people like Universal Health Care. Did some more reading about this and ex-pats can also get this Universal Heath Care as well.

I lost a job to this once. The business moved the operation I was working in to Costa Rica. Why? Universal publicly financed health care. Seems mildly higher taxes without the threat of escalating private health insurance premiums ends up saving them money.

Of course, my taxes end up paying for the "defense" of every Tom, Dick and Harry country out there while my healthcare is treated as a charity case..... Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

divineorder's picture

@thanatokephaloides We need to restart work to plan for economic conversion in this country to lessen despair and slow suicide rate, give people hope.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

snoopydawg's picture

I have imagined a world that is at peace as I'm sure you all have. I wish I knew what we could do to get it.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

divineorder's picture

@snoopydawg is to promote and support the Divest movement

and closure of foreign bases.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

divineorder's picture

@snoopydawg is to promote and support the Divest movement

and closure of foreign bases.

up
0 users have voted.

A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.