The Habit of Thought That Made U.S. #1 in Prisons and Wars
By David Swanson, American Herald Tribune
Remarks prepared for April 12 event in Baltimore.
I'm going to start with a few brief opening remarks about what I think is the habit of thought that has made the United States #1 in the world in prisons and wars. And then I'll be glad to try to answer as many questions as you think of. These remarks will be published online at American Herald Tribune.
No matter how long I debunk and refute and mock and condemn arguments for wars, I continue over and over again to conclude that I'm still giving advocates for war too much credit. How ever little I take seriously as rational ideas the notions that U.S. wars can be defensive or humanitarian or peace-keeping, it's always too much. Wars' supporters, in large part, do not themselves actually hold such beliefs. Rather they have a lust for war that must be examined outside of any question of utilitarian impact.
I'm referring here to the mental processes of both top officials deciding to wage war, and ordinary members of the U.S. public expressing their approval. Of course, the two are not identical. Motives of profit are hushed up, while phony motives such as waging wars in order to "support the troops" are manufactured for public consumption but never ever mentioned in the private emails of war makers. Nonetheless, there is great overlap in the thinking of all members of a culture, including the thinking of cynical politicians in a corrupt regime, and there are points on which virtually all politicians, from best to worst, agree without giving the matter any thought.
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Someone I know got a "life consequence" resulting from a negative behavior. The consequence was a natural result; in Reality Therapy or parenting we would call it a "natural consequence" of the behavior, given by the environment. Yet I noticed how the people around him used the opportunity to harass him. They took the chance to tell him how bad he was, to try to re-correct him verbally, to let him know he should NOT do that behavior again! It is evident that this "punishing" frame of thought pervades our culture, in the social microcosm, as well.
