HELIOLITH

The BBC reported yesterday,

“The Pentagon is spending $10bn a year on the missile system, which was meant to be in operation by the end of 2004. The Missile Defence Agency said an “unknown anomaly” was to blame for the system shutting down.

Can you comprehend that we’re still going at this? Ronald Reagan’s visionary “Star Wars” program is still a pile. TEN billion dollars every year? Doesn’t anyone find that perverse when compared to the real needs in our nation and our world?

In the U.S. alone, “One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night…” (link) By some estimates only $13 billion annually would resolve world hunger and sanitation problems. How many people believe for even a second that we’re attempting to build a missile shield to protect our poor? What threat are those who go hungry each day in America to those whom we have chosen to make our enemies? Clearly, we’re all at risk the more our ruling class decides to violently aggravate people around the world. The gap between poor and rich keeps widening and widening, while those hoarding the most resources can’t seem to get enough, pouring seemingly endless time and money into viciously cycling warfare and military escalation. When will it end?

I was looking at pictures of Martin Luther King with 7 year old children today, talking about our history. It’s so hard to try and explain that kind of hatred and fear to children; they need to hear 9/10ths of a positive message. Yet for all its sensitivity, the heart of a child is so strong. The hearts of so many people in the world are so big, but today our world is still ruled by bitterness and fear. I close my eyes and imagine it being darkest just before the dawn.

I find myself staring at these pictures of MLK and his compadres, whispering to myself, “Dear Martin, we need your calm unwavering vision now. We need to be united more deeply and meaningfully than ever before.”

Update: Check out Saheli’s excellent review of this odd issue (link). I tried to post this entry last night but got thwarted by a fickle dsl line.