Waging Peace?

America is the aggressive global bully, and I think most of the world is aware of our hypocrisy. Just think about the obvious arrogant actions of our country.

• Jailing a journalist... torturing him in a maximum security prison for revealing US war crimes, as we criticize other countries for lack of press freedom.
• Declaring a new unelected president of Venezuela and stealing their national wealth, companies, and gold, as we install crippling sanctions because we don't like countries with governments who help their people more than our corporations.
• Constantly harassing Cuba over decades for daring to try socialism.
• Refusing to recognize our own agreements whether it is the Iran Treaty, our guarantee not to move NATO one inch East, or our endless broken treaties with our own first nations peoples.
• Promoting global war with Iran, China, Russia...and anyone who challenges US hegemony.

It is past time to try to wage peace. To be a global friend and neighbor assisting countries not raping their resources and peoples. The US political system has been captured by the oligarchs and their corporations, so how to promote peace? Perhaps we just need to practice as individuals and refuse to participate in the political farce. Let's look today at some successful practitioners.

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

Living in a country experiencing continual phases of war requiring troops for occupation to active combat phase does not leave much space for a visible peace movement. Contemporary public protests often seem to have significant representation of agent provocateurs. So how does a movement progress by individual actions rippling forward.

My protection from military recruiters was an elementary music teacher who taught me to play the guitar. By high school having fashionable long fingernails was more important than continuing with a string instrument. However, those first two songs I learned kept playing in my head whenever the career counselor arranged mandatory meetings to listen to the marketing pitch explaining the easiest path to higher education for the daughter of a mill worker and waitress.

[video:https://youtu.be/p3ly8cyWvkw?t=36]