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"By and By Lord, By and By"
by James Glaser October 8, 2011 
I wasn't actually thinking about the same thing the Carter Family was when they sang, "Can That Circle Be Unbroken" back in the 1930s, but that song popped into my head when I started thinking about how a circle of corruption in Washington has gotten our country into the fix were are in. Also, I believe it will take the help of the Lord to get us back on track. Here is the circle I am talking about, and like the chicken or the egg, I don't know where it started or what came first. The United States is on a war economy, and we have been since WW II. We fight a war, and because of that, the Defense Industry and the Pentagon employ millions and millions of American workers. Many Americans get rich from that war, but when it ends, they either have to lay off their workers and retool for some other products, or they can lobby Washington to find somebody else to fight, and keep those workers employed and the profits flowing. After running through this circle of war and finding new wars a couple of times, the Defense Industry realized that that circle could be made whole a lot easier if the people we elected into office in Washington were pro-war. So the Defense Industry started funding the political campaigns of those who were more apt to keep us fighting. As we can see from the last 70 some years, political party affiliation has little or nothing to do with keeping this circle of war, profits, and employment going. Democrats are just as willing to start some fight on the other side of the world as a Republican. It all boils down to profits and a share of those profits being spent on the campaigns of those most willing to work to keep those profits going. And it is no longer just fighting wars that keep those profits high. Now with the help of Washington, our Defense Industry can boast the highest foreign arms sales of any country on earth. Here is the kicker. If a country can't afford to buy weapons from our Defense Industry, don't worry, because those politicians in Washington will give that country the money it needs in the form of Military Aid. And where does all the money paid to the Defense industry came from? Taxes. At least it used to be from taxes, but as the cost of keeping the largest most powerful military in the world grew, so did the cost. Now we don't have enough tax money to foot the bill, and we have had to borrow from other countries. So now we are deep in debt, but because of the years of campaign contributions to both political parties, stopping wars and bringing our occupation troops from past wars home will be the last thing looked at by our Congress. Keeping those Defense Industry jobs, and the profits our wars create, is Job#1 for those elected in Washington. We might have to cut social programs, or the help government gives to those who want to further their education with Pell Grants, but cut new research and development on new weapon systems? No way. So, that gets us back to that song. Yes, it is a different circle in 2011 that it was in the 1930s, but it will take the work of the Lord to break this circle of profits and war. By and by Lord, by and by. |
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