Pope takes on perpetual war!
By Thom Hartmann A...
Once again, Pope Francis has spoken truth to power. At an event last Monday, the Pontiff spoke to 7,000 schoolchildren, and one of them asked him a question about war. In response, the Pope said, “Why so many powerful people do not want peace? Because they live off wars!” He called the $400 billion dollar global arms trade an “industry of death,” and said that people who profit from making and selling weapons “make more money with the war!”
Even the children he was speaking to can understand that it is wrong to profit off of death and destruction. And, even young people can see that it's harder to achieve peace when we have such powerful forces working against that goal.
All over the world, huge corporations manufacture products that are designed to kill, and allow executives and investors to pretend like they're anything but war profiteers. Just like his comments on capitalism and greed, the Pope is right and it's time for the world to rethink our policy of perpetual war.
Comments
#2
Coping with rise sea level will make the problem invisible to people that continue to live near the ocean.
Coastal cities should erect ornate, 200-foot-tall pillars just off-shore (for now) with markings for distance above AD 2000 sea level, so that as sea level changes over the coming decades and centuries, everyone can see it written plainly.
#3
mathboy -- I like the idea of 200 ft pillars. I wonder if we could convince any government to build them. They need to be very well built to withstand the ever more powerful hurricanes created by global energy capture (AKA global warming).
#4
Quote mathboy:Coping with rise sea level will make the problem invisible to people that continue to live near the ocean.Coastal cities should erect ornate, 200-foot-tall pillars just off-shore (for now) with markings for distance above AD 2000 sea level, so that as sea level changes over the coming decades and centuries, everyone can see it written plainly.
mathboy ~ That is a very good idea. However, convincing the current crop of conservative Corporate cronies to invest a dime in proving sea level rise due to global warming is real, in and of itself, would be quite a feat. Besides, as a lifelong coastal dweller I can assure you that if the sea starts to rise, we will know soon enough. There are already quite a few markers in place that people who are familiar with the coastline will notice a change in. For instance, the SF Bay coast has many piers built on it for both docking boats and fishing. People who routinely use those piers are quite aware of the typical water height at both low and high tides. Various other areas of the bay, during low tide, expose the ground underneath for several yards off the main shore. The shore line itself is lined with rock breakwaters that have the normal sea level sketched into the surfaces with water marks, mussels, and barnacles. In Oakland, the ocean and bay drain directly into Lake Merritt in the center of town; which, is delicately balanced with the the water level at high tide hitting 1-2 feet below the bank surface. Here alone, a 1 foot rise in sea level would cause the lake to spill over it's banks. Something a great many people would notice. I seriously doubt any appreciable rise in sea level would go unnoticed for very long; at least, around this area of the coast.
#5
I always loved Pope Francis. There are few Popes who I can say that about. Unlike others, and a huge chunk of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis obviously takes Christ's teachings and telling the truth seriously. It is quite refreshing whenever a leader comes along that speaks truth to power. We are very fortunate to have people like Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders fighting for us.
Whenever someone like Pope Francis or Bernie Sanders comes along it is the duty of every responsible citizen to rally around and support them. An opportunity is knocking that we have been waiting and praying for now for many years. We must answer the door. Especially now when the powers of evil threaten to take so much away from so many. Apathy is a luxury we cannot afford.
#6
Any port in the storm? Any truth no matter how inconvenient?
The catholic church survives on poverty and ignorance, while hoarding billions and billions and billions, for a kingdom "not of this earth".
There is a name for this kind of "truth", Thom...can you guess?
Given that we are engaging an ( according to YOU ) an extinction level exercise, one would think that maybe you might express greater expectations? I mean, we're not talking required original thinking from YOU or anybody else.......one simply follows Morris L West's solution in "Shoes of the Fisherman."
And you don't even have to read the book, they made a movie. .( and this was just about famine and war. )
Who knows, this whole "truth thing" might become contagious for you.....then you can expand your "truth" beyond the Koch Bros. to Buffet, Branson, Gates, Bloomberg, etc. Of course, this whole "smarmy" thing you have going will have to stop.....it doesn't fit with the truth very well.....
But you're safe......you don't read this stuff either.....or respond to it.
#7
The simple truth is, there will never be real peace on earth until the human race has disappeared, by what ever means that might bring that about. It might be peacful if the population is reduced to widely scattered small groups of non-aggresive people, but that would require highly selective decimation.
#8
We are a species that no matter what the challenge always seem to rise to the occasion, except non violence and peace. You can jeopardize your job, your well being and even your social standing by criticizing our aggression or politics of war. Yes the Catholic Church has a lot of money and material possession over the centuries of accumulation but not as much as Wall Street that supports the industrial military complex that is so deliberately dependent on poverty and unequal distribution of wealth. It seems hatred and murder are intertwined with our competitive nature. We have mass marketing and public relations efforts aimed at every generation from children to senior citizens intended to gain support for wounded warriors, and our heros but no mention of the victims of a system that uses and misuses the world resources for counter productive means. We have a cult of aggression that sees no end to growth and consumption and no ethical responsibility for current or future generations. At this rate I doubt space exploration or technologiy will benefit anyone now or in the future.
#9
I love this the catholic church is criticizing someone about war and greed. The catholic church is the richest corporation in the world and nothing has caused more wars then religion. Poeple in glass pope mobiles shouldn't throw stones.
#10
On the rising water thing. I have a freind in Singapore which is basically on the equator where there is very little tide. A great plce to measure water levels. The water level is exactly where it has always been. Maybe the tides are just getting higher.
#11
Reply to #5: Marc, when Pope Francis comes out in support of my gender's reproductive rights, then -- and ONLY then -- will he have my support. Until then, he's just another antiquated old patriarch, far as I'm concerned.
#12
Quote Aliceinwonderland:Reply to #5: Marc, when Pope Francis comes out in support of my gender's reproductive rights, then -- and ONLY then -- will he have my support. Until then, he's just another antiquated old patriarch, far as I'm concerned.
Aliceinwonderland ~ Point well taken. I suppose no one is perfect. However, considering the imperfection with Popes I've seen in my life, in comparison, Pope Francis really rocks.
I only hope you are willing to support Bernie Sanders. Right now, that is the person who needs your support the most for the good of the country. The Pope can take care of himself.
#13
By the way, does everyone suddenly find themselves having to "Login" every single time they wish to comment here?! Used to be that I had to login maybe twice a year; now it's every single time I show up. What's with that? I sent the webmaster a message of inquiry; predictably, no response.
It's not difficult to login, but it's irritating having to do it all the friggin' time.
#14
Reply to #12: Bernie is the ONLY person I will even consider voting for the Democratic ticket. He is one of those very rare politicians I actually trust. This is not to say I agree with Bernie on EVERYTHING (i.e. gun control, Israel...). But that man delivers on his promises and he is not up for sale. What we see is exactly what we get. And THAT, my friends, is good enough for me!
#15
Our policy of perpetual war costs trillions in taxpayer dollars, trillions that could have been spent on education, healthcare, expanded social safety net programs, minimum income for all citizens, infrastructure updates, etc. Why not a national poll: would you rather have cradle to grave healthcare like most of the rest of the world, or should your government instead spend the trillions on unending war for profit?
It's our government and our money...... in a democracy the vast majority overrules avarice and the tiny billionaire minority, if not by elected official, then by threat of revolt.
Pope Francis said it well when he described unending war for profit as an "industry of death," and many of those being killed, as in all wars, are impoverished people caught up in a rich man's war. How about those making all the money do all the damn fighting too? Leave the rest of us out of the madness of unending thirst for power and money.
#16
Quote Aliceinwonderland:Used to be that I had to login maybe twice a year; now it's every single time I show up. What's with that? I sent the webmaster a message of inquiry; predictably, no response.
I find I only have to login if cookies from thomhartmann.com have been erased or expired.
Have you changed something in your browser settings that maybe causing cookies to be erased on a daily basis? Are you allowing thomhartmann.com to set cookies?
There's also some antivirus software, and "PC cleaning" software, out there that will delete cookies from your browser.
Normally, if you don't visit thomhartmann.com for more than two days, the cookies will expire; but, if you visit everyday, including weekends, they remain "fresh".
#17
Quote 2950-10K:Our policy of perpetual war costs trillions in taxpayer dollars, trillions that could have been spent on education, healthcare, expanded social safety net programs, minimum income for all citizens, infrastructure updates, etc. Why not a national poll: would you rather have cradle to grave healthcare like most of the rest of the world, or should your government instead spend the trillions on unending war for profit?It's our government and our money...... in a democracy the vast majority overrules avarice and the tiny billionaire minority, if not by elected official, then by threat of revolt.
Pope Francis said it well when he described unending war for profit as an "industry of death," and many of those being killed, as in all wars, are impoverished people caught up in a rich man's war. How about those making all the money do all the damn fighting too? Leave the rest of us out of the madness of unending thirst for power and money.
2950-10K ~ Actually, I don't have anything to add to that. I just thought it was so well said, it deserved to be repeated. Congratulations! That has to be the best post on this thread so far; and, by far, the best post I've read in some time.
#18
Yet a majority of Sen. Graham's constituents continue to return him to Congress time after time ! This is also the case for many Right and Left Wing warmongers who retain their positions in government. Obviously Sen. Graham's views on national defense have been accepted by a majority of the voters. But can we really be surprised that these atrocities continue when forty years ago, we as a nation decided to remove our young people from mandatory service fighting these wars but we did nothing to end our participation in them. The Roman Empire, not that much different than the current U.S. International Military Empire, was eventually faced with this problem as average citizens showed little interest in participating in the empire's defense. The empire's leadership elected to take the route of funding private foreign military entities to fight their wars. Turning the defense of their empire over to disinterested individuals who had no real stake in the empire's continued existence, beyond their ongoing personal compensation for providing a specific service. This turned out to be a major contributor to the eventual breakup of this thousand year old empire, a fate that we may soon be facing if we continue down this same troubling path !
#19
stecoop01 #7; You sound like yet another rabid Environmentalist, the survival of plants and insects takes precedence over human beings ! Obviously a charter member of the lunatic fringe !
#20
I just love this pope!!
he is correct
despite my being a non-practicing Catholic, I find him to be closer to the true meanings of religion
he is correct: Dick Cheney's Halliburton made a bundle off of Iraq!
#21
Deja Vu! Dr. Strangelove!
#22
On the Wednesday show, Thom asked whether "the press" had called any of the Waco biker gang members "thugs." I haven't seen that word actually used, but Huffington Post got a bit snarky about white-on-white crime and rioters destroying their own neighborhoods:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/waco-texas-biker-gang_n_7307050...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/biker-gangs-shootout-waco_n_730...
#23
I do agree that Pope Francis has been a welcome breath of fresh air, considering his predecessor's constant incindiary remarks towards the LGBT community and his role in protecting child molestors. However, if we continue to lend any credibility whatsoever to the kings of adult dressup/make-believe land, we are not doing the future any favors. A pope is just a glorified priest who supposedly has Jesus on speed-dial. Yet some adults choose to pick on children with imaginary friends? This is a man who has the power to make sh$t up on the spot and call it infallible, and he commands an intimidating army of over 1 billion world-wide followers!!! No one sees anything TERRIBLY wrong here?
#24
awkword-0 -- I am more concerned about the kings in robes that are running the USA; AKA SCROTUS.
#25
AIW -- Bernie happily pointed out the other day that the NRA gives him a F.
#26
DAnneMarc: It's good to see someone agrees with me. I've never been able to figure out why there isn't more outrage over our military spending, more spending than the rest of the world combined...and after all that massive spending, we the people end up with the bill via the austerity song and dance, compliments of the billionaire party.
#27
Patrick H.T. paine and Kend, the current pope can't help what previous popes have done nor can he change it overnight. He is, necessarily an anomaly as ANY powerful institution will ALWAYS become a corrupt tyranny. It will always have too much invested in power and control. The integrity of the Church ended in the fifth century when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion of Rome.
Patrick, Thom does, in fact, read this blog but he doesn't reply to it.
Kend, you need a more objective Singaporean to get a report from. It's probably illegal in Singapore to acknowledge human caused global warming, authoritarian capitalist oligarchy that it is. Some equatorial island nations are already almost gone.
You're not seriously going to argue that the sea levels aren't rising, are you? You're a flat earther if you do.
#28
Awkword-o, a lot of people have a following. This guy having one doesn't bother me, the next pope's does. I think the right wing bishops are gonna poison him so he'd die in his sleep and all the Catholics take it as a sign from God that He's a right winger like they did the last lefty pope, John Paul I.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
Thom & Louise at a "private audience" with His Holiness Pope John Paul II at his summer palace, Castle Gandolfo, Italy
From Cracking the Code:
"Thom Hartmann ought to be bronzed. His new book sets off from the same high plane as the last and offers explicit tools and how-to advice that will allow you to see, hear, and feel propaganda when it's directed at you and use the same techniques to refute it. His book would make a deaf-mute a better communicator. I want him on my reading table every day, and if you try one of his books, so will you."
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"Beneath the success and rise of American enterprise is an untold history that is antithetical to every value Americans hold dear. This is a seminal work, a godsend really, a clear message to every citizen about the need to reform our country, laws, and companies."
From Screwed:
"I think many of us recognize that for all but the wealthiest, life in America is getting increasingly hard. Screwed explores why, showing how this is no accidental process, but rather the product of conscious political choices, choices we can change with enough courage and commitment. Like all of Thom’s great work, it helps show us the way forward."
Sen. Lindsey Graham's declaration that he would drone-strike anyone thinking of being a terrorist (even if they're a U.S. citizen and resident, presumably) is completely in line with his declaration a few months ago that he'd use the military to force the Congress to pass a budget.