In the last hundred years or so haven't we expanded our democratic (stealing resources) horizons to the rest of the world? Since the end of World War II haven't we pretty much done what we have wanted too? And since the fall of the Soviet Union, we can do whatever we want to whomever we want whenever we want, can't we? What do you think of this?

Do we do this because we are now brought up greedy? Do we do this because militarily we can? But doesn't that make us the real terrorists? Do we do this because the Fourth estate has been taken over by corporations? Do we do this because the so-called journalists are all on self-imposed leases, never uttering a sound against the military corporate line. Is our freedom of the Press gone?

Yes. So turn off your televisions, and go to the Internet and start reading news from around the world. Boycott the corporations as much as possible. Where and how we spend your money is one of the top ways to show our disdain. We must do our best to try to spend our money with (local if possible) socially and ecologically responsible smaller companies.

Why do we have our military on almost 1000 bases spread across over 100 countries? Could what said by Major General Smedley Butler, United States Marine Corps, who was twice awarded the congressional medal of honor, be true: "War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.

So, why does the United States Government spend more on the military than all the rest of the countries on Earth combined? The current military expenditures are 437 billion and our past obligations are 339 billion, this equals 776 billion. 46% Of Our Taxes Go To The Military: http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm This figure doesn't even account for all of the off-budget, black projects, nor the 40+ billion the United States will spend on intelligence in 2003.

Why has our military invaded over 200 countries, and killed more than eight million people within just the last 50 years? View the 200+ incursions by the United States since WWII: http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/index.html#post

Is our military there to help foster democracy? Or, is our military there to protect the huge corporations, so they can have their way with the resources and the slave labor work force? Are the huge corporations raping the Earth and reaping enormous profits only for the oligarchy? What do you think?

Why are we breaking dozens of world agreements from the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, to the Land Mine Treaty, to the International Criminal Court Treaty, to the Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty, to the Kyoto Protocol? Why is the United States acting unilaterally (by opposing) on almost every important world treaty?

What is another one of the top ways to tell that you are living in a totalitarian regime? You know you are living in a totalitarian system when the head of the communication of the country -- the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is the son of the highest military officer. In the United States, Michael K. Powell, the head of the FCC is none other than the Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's son. Why have our airwaves been have been given away to the corporations? Now less than 10 corporations control almost all media, and when you control all the media, you control the people, don't you?

The United States is 4.67% of the population of Earth, yet we use about 25% of the resources. It is good business, good mainly for a very few, at the expense of all others, and our future generations. The Earth has already passed sustainability. It did so between 1984 and 1989.

The first major indicator occurred in 1984 when the global grain output per person peaked at 755 pounds. The global grain output has dropped every year since 1984 by an average of .6%. Today the amount of grain per person is 680 pounds per year.

The second major predictor happened in 1987 when our exponential population peaked with 87.01 million being added to the Earth. Each year since we have added fewer and fewer people. We will likely reach zero population growth before 2040, perhaps as soon as 2020, because of plagues like AIDS.

The third key took place in 1989 when the oceanic fish catch peaked at 100 million metric tones. Today marine biologists report that all 17 oceanic fisheries are being fished at or beyond capacity.

The fourth alarming trend has to do with our fresh water. We are poisoning life's second most vital commodity. Since the amount of fresh water available for human consumption is constant, and as population is still growing (but slower each year), the supply of fresh water per person declines. As a result, the amount of water available per person is expected to decline by 74 percent between 1950 and 2050. One billion people around the world face water shortages today. By 2025, the number is expected to grow to over 3 billion people.

I won't bring up the sheer madness of the 30,000+ nuclear weapons nor will I mention the 430 or so commercial nuclear reactors online throughout our planet. Should I tell you about the 80,000 man-made chemicals that we know so little about or the carbon parts per million that have increased each and every month since they started keeping records in January 1958. Do you want to know that the temperate of Earth will go up between 3 and 10 degrees F this century?

How can we let companies like Enron politically plunder California out of tens of billions of dollars with phony energy shortages? Why do we let CEO's such as Kenny Lay (the single largest contributor of George Walker Bush political campaigns since entering politics) get away with creating a shell game with our energy markets and than steal hundreds of millions of dollars while Enron goes bankrupt?

Why does my country have 6.6 million people in the criminal injustice system? African-Americans represent 12% of the United States population, yet represent 47% of all people in prison? Why do African-Americans represent almost half the people incarcerated yet make up only one-eighth of our total population? It couldn't have anything to do with racism, could it? Why does my Country imprison more of its citizens per capita than any other country on Earth? Why were 3,330 prisons, at a cost of 27 billion, built during the 1990's? Why did the spending on prisons increase 823% vs. the college's increases of 374% between 1977 and 1995? Why was 220% more money spent on prisons?

Why do we give the least amount of foreign aid of per our percentage of our gross national product compared to any other industrial government on Earth? The three best aid providers, measured by the foreign aid percentage of their gross national product, are Denmark (1.01%), Norway (0.91%), and the Netherlands (0.79). The three worst are the United States (0.10%), the United Kingdom (0.23%), Australia, Portugal, and Austria (all 0.26). How can we possibly be spending 46% of our tax money on the military, and only one-tenth of one percent to help others who are less fortunate with our foreign aid?

Why are we spending 20 billion per year on the War on Drugs, when it has been a complete failure for the past 30 years? Why don't we finally come to our senses and legalize all Drugs? Why don't we treat drugs for what they are, a medical problem not a criminal problem? How could the Supreme Court have voted, 8 to 0 (with one abstention), last May against Medical Marijuana for those who have a legal Doctor's prescription for it? Do you think the CIA is clandestinely making 7 billion per year in illegal Drug money?

Why are about 70 billion animals raised in horrendous factory conditions? Why are about 70 billion animals brutally slaughter each year? Why can't we all see the light on this, and become vegetarians today? Being a vegetarian is the number one healthy thing you can do for yourself as well as the Earth.

Why do we blatantly cause approximately 585 species of the web of life to go extinct every day? This extinction rate equals one species of life going extinct every 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Why are millions of people at work legally day and night, quickly destroying the richest place there is for life on Earth, the Rainforests? Why are there perhaps as many as 5 illegal workers for every legal worker destroying the Rainforests? How are we letting 1.8 acres of Rainforests per second being annihilated?

Why do we let half the population of Earth (3.1 billion) live in poverty on less than two dollars per day? Why do we let about 1 billion people not live, but just barley survive in utter poverty? How do we let approximately 30,000 children die from the worst death on Earth, starvation every day?

What kind of nightmarish Twilight Zone are we letting yourselves live in? It is time to stop our fear, our hatred and our inhumane atrocities towards our fellow humans. It is time to stop our inhumane atrocities towards all of the other species of Earth. It is time for an equitable distribution of our sustainable resources. It is time for all of our energy to be derived from renewable sources. It is now time for an awakening of Peace and Love on Earth, or our species, Homo sapiens, will go extinct.

Love Is The Answer

Mark Elsis is the Executive Director
of the LOVEARTH NETWORK
with 1000+ EcoHumanePolitical websites.
eMail him at: Mark@Lovearth.net