As a child of the ’60s, I grew up hating war—protesting and demonstrating against them, uncovering as a writer the global military-industrial complex, and seeking peace with my pen.
Through the years, I saw myself as a herald—someone who could help people, through my writings, liberate themselves from programmed ignorance and institutionalized stupidity.
Well, now that I am in the third act of my life, my understanding of how the world works has changed.
I used to believe there was an invisible hand controlling the planet—families and organizations that have manipulated everything since the dawn of conscious time.
These rulers were ruthless and made names for themselves as conquerors: Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, the Spanish conquistadors, William the Conqueror, and so many more.
I thought they were all cut from the same cloth—and that even in this day and age, they’re still making their deals in back rooms, divvying up the world between themselves.
But now I realize something deeper: No matter our technological achievements or how “civilized” we’ve become in every corner of the globe, we are still predators when you get right down to it. It’s dog-eat-dog, kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. The law of the jungle is alive and well.
No matter the back room deal, the predators will betray each other for the land and power they seek. Rules do not apply. No honor amongst thieves.
And that is why countries arm themselves: to stop other countries from taking what they want by force—and enslaving the losers.
We need investors in things that kill because we need those things to fight off other predators who take what they want with violence.
It’s a deadly chess game the leaders play with one another—waving their weapons aloft, signaling to the other predators out there that we’re ready to do the same to them should they try to take us out.
So it behooves us to arm ourselves to the teeth—to make sure we have so many weapons, no one dares mess with us.
I hate to have to say this but we need our military-industrial complex and those who invest in it. Without it we would be speaking German, Russian or Chinese by now.
The missiles, drones, satellites, battleships, hypersonic jets, germ and chemical warfare—they are all necessary to ward off the enemy.
Forget about peace. A fully automatic Uzi can take out 100 sign-carrying protesters in a minute—provided one has enough magazines.
Violence—lethal violence—wins wars. Diplomacy has its place, but it needs the backbone of space-age weapons to back it up. It needs teeth!
There are no rules in this game other than the rules of physics—the platform upon which these weapons are created.
A threat can manifest from anywhere. Someone can steal a backpack nuke and mess up our port cities and electricity grid.
So now I understand why we have spies, and the CIA, and the FBI, and all kinds of covert entities. We need everything we’ve got to keep from being invaded by our lethal enemies.
We need things that go boom in order to stay free. These predator nations look for the weakest chink in our armor to exploit should war break out.
So now I see things differently. It’s not just about billionaires profiting from their investments in war.
It’s about having the best weapons we can produce—to beat and outcompete the weapons our enemies have.
Damn. I do not like this conclusion. But truth is truth. We let down our guard for an instant, and they’ll see it as weakness—attack, and plunder.
Proof in the pudding? Look at Russia and Ukraine. It’s a war of attrition. Without the weapons we and NATO provide, Ukraine would be overrun. Russia would grow stronger. Poland would be next. And who knows what after that?
And let us not think that morality or concern for humankind would stop a person from nuking a sleeping civilian population. Look at what we did in Japan.
War is war. Forget hoping your enemies will be kind and merciful.
Go get yourself a gun—the best and biggest you can get. Stay locked and loaded. Be prepared to kill or die for your way of life. Our enemies never stop planning for our death.
Support our military-industrial complex. As odious as it may seem, we must choose—between survival and extinction.
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