Give Peace A Chance

‘Give Peace a Chance? ’

A noble sentiment; unfortunately war is a vital element of world-economics and profit from armament export sales is essential to economic success.

A successful armaments-producing nation leans heavily on an income-dependency from export. And the armament’s industry produces lots more than Swiss Army Knives.

Of course, there is the ubiquitous landmine, it’s a great seller, Australia also made and exported this product previous to Princess Diana's intervention. I’m uncertain as to whether they come with a choice of prosthetic limbs as optional extras. Certainly they are not cheap; they cost an arm and a leg if not more and they're also very effective against third-world children, women and livestock.

All types of guns and munitions, laser-guided missiles and A-bombs, fighter and transport planes; warships, aircraft-carriers, patrol-boats, submarines, tanks and army land-transport, high-tech backup equipment and support systems are produced mainly for export. Once used, explosive ordinance are doubly profitable; not reusable they keep the wheels of the armaments industry and therefore the whole economy turning.

There is no possibility of giving ‘global-peace a chance,’ not with global finance as it stands. The way we finance our industrial production means there can be no “peace in our time”* or in any future time; unless. Ah yes, thank the Gods; all of them; for the ever present; unless; unless we completely replace the type of finance that drives our economy to such extremes. 'It's the money, stupid' is descriptive.

An asset is presented to a bank as collateral security where its worth is transformed into monetary form. For three centuries this sort of finance has driven and shaped our present-world economic and cultural activity, our so-called humanity and our some-what
questionable wisdom. Scientists point to our rather less than brilliant production and consumption incentives that result in irreversible, unwelcome, environmental and social changes.

This finance-starved debt based economy absolutely demands profit growth and economic expansion allowing only short-term thinking and planning responses. Within this debt-money-only construct, the importance of profit is placed well above environmental, or social concerns. As debt is continuous and cyclic our asset-secured, borrowed finance, because it is costly and the asset at risk of forfeit, it is hurriedly returned requiring a quick and adequate profit. Thus the sum of the original loan is removed from circulation causing the scarcity of finance so evident in all spheres of human endeavour.

This method of bringing about a monetary means of exchange is more than somewhat curious. We produce money as debt to be returned with interest. It is lent as an advance, on a previously deposited security. It is now an extra debt liability to the borrower hoping for the asset's return, meaning profit is needed to the defray costs and interest charges before repayment can be finalised. The profit becomes income for both bank and client.

It is this model, this model of debt-creation that demands because of its inbuilt scarcity factor, that we survive by using our most primal responses, machinations and unsustainable practices against each other. We strive to beat the competitor, not to a better world but to gain some of that scarce, devilishly hard to make, profit. It is the only resource that gives any of us access to the necessities.

We use primitive-brain-stem responses for most social and environmental interaction where others remain a potential threat. It has become, if we are honest; in our world of dire financial-scarcity; our only means of survival. The primal instinct of self and family preservation combined with scarce funding for life’s necessities brings conflict, an initial condition for civil war somewhere and armaments-export for someone.

This model initiates and demands that, for our immediate survival we should endure the funding scarcity and the polluting production methods fueling our western-economy’s lifestyle. It’s a culture which is based on ever increasing consumption of energy and other resources; these asset's only criteria of value is their profitability.

Big industrial and manufacturing nations like the USA, Britain and France are heavily armaments-export dependent. It means their economic-existence. The removal of this industry would push the already fragile economy over the fiscal-cliff and into the economic disaster of a monetary-depression. Something the Third-World constantly endure.

1. Lockheed Martin profit: 2.7 billion - 2012 employment: 120,000
2. Boeing profit: $3.9 billion - 2012 employment: 174,400
3. BAE Systems profit: $2.6 billion - 2012 employment: 88,200
4. Raytheon profit: $1.9 billion - 2012 employment: 67,800
5. General Dynamics profit: - $332 million - 2012 employment: 92,200

Export-sales of armament are more easily achieved in Third-World nation-states fearful of rivals competing for scarce export-market share. Led to believe they should protect their national integrity through a show of force; they become our customers.

Through judicious use of media and CIA type agent provocateurs, used to prepare the ground before the arrival sales personnel, the essential state-of-fear is readily achieved raising the desire for the feeling of security that armaments falsely bring. In the middle-east the fostered threat of a civil uprising plus a religious persecution complex is potential enough for arms-sales.

In industrialised nations such as Russia Germany and China, sales in arms make up a large component of their national economy. Germany I’ve heard quoted as high as 30%.

As so-called civilised beings, you are probably appalled by what we do to each-other and to our environment. But for heaven’s sake never for a moment look at the financial cause that drives these activities because you may well be horrified at what you have tolerated as being 'just human nature' and go on tolerating.

‘Don’t even consider the existence of a causal factor. An awareness of our own complicity may force a rethink about: not who, but what to blame for the horrific ecological and social consequences already befalling us.

Would it not be preferable to use our intellectual capacities to investigate our 300 year old debt financing economics, based on profit scarcity.

Hard to absolve your-self when you support it just by living in it and being provisioned by it, without ever once questioning to see if there is a rational cause; a reason; as to why we as so-called sapient beings must exploit and abuse in order to consume, in our bid to survive.

*Neville Chamberlain British, Prime minister endeavoring to negotiate peace with Germany.1939