War Is Hell

by Christina Hazelwood
Americans, or at least American politicians, are very keen on war campaigns. We had a war on poverty, a war on hunger and a war on drugs. Then recently we had a war on terror, a war on Iraq, twice, and a war in Afghanistan. Whatever happened to a war on unemployment? It seems we only pursue wars when there is power and profit to be gain by American authorities.

The War on Poverty began in 1964 when President Johnson invoked Roosevelt’s New Deal programs of the 1930s and 40s, and called on congress to establish the Office of Economic Opportunity whose goal was to eradicate poverty in America. The Head Start program is a remnant of the OEC’s efforts, which was disbanded by President Nixon in 1974, to make room for his own war campaigns.

The war on poverty spawned a host of measures and acts, with a great deal of activity taking place in the 1960s such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, and the creation of the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Johnson administration established a poverty yardstick setting an income threshold, adjusted for inflation, that determined the minimal amount of income required to reasonably sustain an American’s life.

In the 1980s, the war on poverty helped large corporate farming operations unload food supplies at higher prices than the market would bear, by selling them to the U.S. government and later distributing them to welfare and food stamp recipients and disaster relief victims. The Commodity Credit Corporation bought up milk products to prop up prices, blended the stockpile together and called it processed American cheese that was given away in bricks.

Today most Americans (58 percent) will spend at least one year below the poverty line. A portion of America regularly lives below the poverty line, averaging between 12 and 17 percent. According the U.S. Census, real median income has been on a decline since 2007, the poverty rate has increased, the number of uninsured Americans has increased and the number of unemployed has increased, so much for the success of the war on poverty.

The War on Hunger was started by President Nixon, in the 1960s, after discovering that in spite of the food stamp program, significant levels of malnutrition were occurring in low-income children and adults. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2007 over 36 million households were food insecure.

The War on Drugs, which continues today, was started by Nixon in 1969. Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and congress passed several acts that cracked down on all drug-associated activities including growing, processing, manufacturing, importing, possessing or using drugs not certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

From 1980 to 2000 the U.S. population grew over 25 percent, while the prison population tripled, due mainly to drug-related incarcerations. Individuals involved with non FDA-approved substances, not only receive the usual punishments, but because of the power afforded to the war on drugs campaign, also receive collateral consequences, such as denial of public benefits and licenses.

The war on drugs has provided legal enforcement authorities with profits gained by taking possession of illegal drug monies and confiscation of property under the RICO act, not to mention all the free illegal drugs they can handle.

Nixon joined with other global governments to encourage them to pass laws, control and punish drug activity. Making certain substances illegal has created a global black market with lots of money to be made by violent criminals, corrupt government officials and impoverished peoples who have few legal options to sustain themselves. The success of this multi-national effort is demonstrated in the recent mayhem and murders taking place in Mexican border towns, causing government officials to flee their own country in fear of their lives.

The War on Terrorism was declared by President George W. Bush in 2001. As of today, America still has not captured Osama bin Laden, leader of al Qaeda, the terrorist organization who inspired the 2001 attacks on U.S. soil. And we still have troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan where terrorism is said to originate.

With all these war campaigns, why don’t we throw in a few more on problems that more directly affect the average American, like a War on Unemployment, a War on Taxes, a War on Greed, or a War on Infidelity? I guess we couldn’t have that, because then the politicians and corporations would have to attack themselves. On second thought, given the success rate of our war campaigns, it wouldn’t change a thing anyway.

Associated Links

Local Unemployment Statics

Three Little Words: War on Terror

Mexican Drug Wars