“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

In one year so many important government programs have been gutted. Funding for NASA and scientific research has been drastically cut. Young people graduating from college this spring are anxiously attempting to find jobs in their fields of study and most of them learning that few opportunities are there. For the next six months Medicare and Medicaid will not cover walkers, prosthetics and all kinds of medical equipment for the elderly and the poor. Virtually every government agency aside from the military and ICE has experienced drastic funding cuts. Obamacare has been gutted. The reasoning given for such moves has been that we have to be more circumspect in spending if we are ever to balance the budget. 

In the meantime the richest Americans enjoy tax cuts that boggle the mind given that they have billion dollar net worths. The cost of ICE raids is outrageous. Now we have embarked on a war with Iran that was not even run past Congress and that will cost outrageous amounts. Former President Eisenhower was right on target when he noted that the cost of guns and war and bombs is taking away support for average and low income Americans. Inflation is on the rise. Farmers have had an horrific year. Our former allies are questioning whether or not we can be trusted in the future. Tariffs are on again off again and on again at least temporarily. 

It feels as though we have a king rather than a president, a man who believes that he can do anything that he wants with impunity. He lies and wreaks vengeance on blues states while it feels as though the ground under our feet is shaking. There is no certainty about anything at the moment and hunger is growing among those who are cold and unclothed.

I remember President Eisenhower with great respect and regard. My parents were grateful for his service during World War II. They often commented on what a good man he was. When he ran for president I was a seven year old in the second grade. I knew nothing about politics or even the man who was running against him. All I knew was that he was someone to admire and so my best friend, Lynda, and I rode around our neighborhood chanting “I like Ike!” We were two little girls who somehow understood that he had saved our nation and much of the world with his service as the commander of at the American forces in the war against Germany. 

When I came upon the quote from him I was somewhat stunned and yet I have learned that most men and women who have engaged in active duty during a war are quite likely to caution everyone about what we surrender whenever we focus on battles. I suppose that President Eisenhower knew better than most how much was lost when war defined the daily lives of people all over the world. I suspect that he wanted us to be cautious about jumping into an altercation with another nation. In pointing out what we lose when we focus on funding the tools of war he knew more than anyone that there is nothing glamorous about conflict. I suspect that he wanted us to think very carefully before investing in war. 

I find it confusing that we are backing away from supporting Ukraine and even absurdly insisting that the Ukrainians began the war with Russia when we all know full well who the aggressor was. We seem to have so many excuses for discontinuing our aid to Ukraine but think nothing of starting a war with Iran in the middle of the night without even consulting Congress. I wonder which Americans are going to lose government assistance from programs that won’t have the kind of funding that will be spent on this war that has dubious rationale for happening. 

I know people who are pacifists in every situation. I am not one of those persons. I do understand that there are times when we have to defend ourselves or help to defend nations that have been invaded. While I see war as a last resort I am not so naive as to think that every single war is bad. Nonetheless I want to be assured that every other possible avenue has been addressed before war is judged to be the only answer.

I am offended by the way in which our present attack on Iran came to be. We were in the middle of negotiations. We had only recently finally ended our presence in the Middle East. We are weary and most of the people who actually voted for Trump did so because he claimed that we were more likely to go to war if Kamala Harris became president. He ran on a promise of peace and yet he seems to be more than eager to escalate the tension in the Middle East and he did so without having any kind of plan other than hoping that the people there will now have the courage to rise up and create a government of freedom and democracy. 

This was all so unnecessary and it is as foolish as our invasion of Iraq that led to death and destruction that will haunts us for decades to come. I am weary of the recklessness of Trump who seems to be smashing things almost as if he wants to purposely destroy the United States. It feels as though a bunch of teenage gamers are running the show with their silly names for the war and their costuming to make themselves look big and important. I long for a time when someone calm and collected like Dwight Eisenhower is at the helm and the Congress is rationally determining whether or not it is time to be at war. Right now all I can say is “God help us all!”