I wonder what it is that happens to citizens as they move up the ladder of authority, that without fail they become protective of the powers that be. I have my ideas.
Colorado Springs should welcome the infusion of more Amy funds to be all that it can be.
Erstwhile populist Jan Martin went from community activist concerned about our city’s growth, to being a City Council member singing their tune. Addressing the PPJPC meeting today, Martin spoke in favor of bringing more soldiers to Fort Carson, and in favor of a megalithic development that promises to swallow a lot of our downtown flavor, both in the interest of “stimulating economic growth.” Pity.
Jan Martin will tell you that she now has the constituency of the city to think about. Don’t you like that about our representatives? They have to represent everyone else. We hear it from Skorman to Salazar, from Morris to Merrifield. You don’t get that from the stooges put into office by the real estate developers and business leaders. They serve the interests of those who brung them. We work hard to elect like-minded populist politicians and they wind up too moral to take sides. Well, that’s a theory.
I’m inclined to imagine that when someone rises to prominence in this or perhaps any city, they’re paid a visit by a waste management associate. You’ve seen the type, big hands, monosyllabic, with a simple message. If you do anything to rock this boat, anything, we’ll plow our truck into your daughter or granddaughter as she walks home from school. OTHERWISE, best wishes with your new vip status, enjoy yourself. We’re behind you all the way.
Eric, you wrote a very convincing article about the problems communities have when they rely heavily on military for economic growth.
As Jan reminded us, we need to have an alternative plan to bring before City Council or County Commission. Your mention of waste management gives me one idea for creating jobs and growing the economy.
How about CS becoming the center in El Paso County, southeastern Colo. or even the state, for a recycling hub (collecting, reusing and sales of recycled products)?
Another possibility could be becoming a center for solar, wind and biofuel technology.
These would be pro-active plans whereas what we have now is totally reactive by needing to find health, criminal justice and housing solutions because of our expanding military neighbors.
Actually, what we have now is a community unable to find any leadership that would resist this city being a Pentagon barracks city. And no recycling plan is much of anything of opposition or counter plan to the military’s gigantic waste.
It is not really the duty of a peace organization to be sucked into organizing ‘green think’ for the military. In fact, it is really quite delusional to get into that mindset since we want to pare the military down to a much smaller size, and eventually away all together.
And it is not our job to be ‘creating jobs and growing the economy’ as you seem to think we should be trying to do. Thinking ‘Green’ has nothing to do with that at all, but has much more to do with making the economy less wasteful in production and more even in its distribution of what actually is produced.
Yes, we want to pare down the military and hope the next administration will do just that. My suggestion was not a “green think” for the military, but for the city that is belleving that military expansion is their only hope for economic security.
Also not saying it is the job of PPJP, it is a way anyone or group can try to make sense of the mess we are in locally and nationally.
Just like we can support single-papyer universal health care for all but unless we (supporters) can come up with convincing ideas of how to retrain all the insurance/drug company employees who will lose jobs, we are being deluded into thinking any real change will happen with our health system.
Universal health care being implemented is in no way contingent on supporters of that plan finding ways to put insurance folk to work.
I disagree, Tony. The sad reality is that the drug/healthcare companies have corporate lobbyists who hold great sway with politicians. The chatter is about being able to “fund” the proposition when, in reality, it’s about preserving the status quo and keeping rich corporations and their minions in power.
How can we throw trillions at a war and a supposed reconstruction and simultaneously claim that we don’t have the money to fund health initiatives? The same applies to our ridiculous tax code. Can you imagine how many companies would be out of business if the tax code were to be greatly simplified? Or if the legal system treated everyone equally?
We can dream of a new reality, but real change isn’t going to come as long as corporations and the military control politicians, who are just their comrades in arms anyway. The people have no power and, thus, no influence.
Yes, there are lots of jobs tied up in all sorts of idiotic avenues of endeavour. That is the sheer nature of capitalism, but in no way do opponents of US militarism or opponents of the current medical delivery fiasco need to take on themselves formulating a jobs program for people that might be laid off with much needed change. That is a separate issue, more or less.
And may I simply suggest that this separate issue of employment is one of cutting the hours of the work week? Lay off all these soldiers, Pentagon-tied business creeps, insurance cons, insurance paper filler-outers etc. Then cut the work hours for those that actually do productive work, and create a jobs program to retrain those now without their formerly nonproductive jobs. Same pay less hours, since the money taken from the productive no longer will have to go to insurance leeches and military production.