Over the past few days, maybe you have heard and seen the fighter jets flying overhead in preparation for the Rochester Airshow. It’s been hard to miss them, and they are certainly impressive in their speed, power and intricate formations. I have seen many posts on social media from people remarking about this aerial wonder, and even while out running the other day I overheard a mom say to her kids who were gazing intently upward, “Isn’t this exciting!”
While I, too, have looked up and done a little of my own “oooh-ing” and “ahhh-ing,” when I stop to think about it, my heart grows heavy.
Most of the impressive planes that are flying overhead this weekend are war planes. They are military aircraft – fighter jets, bombers and other military planes – that are part of our “national defense” and part of our international arsenal.
I did just a little bit of research and found out that the F-16’s that are part of the Air Force Thunderbirds, for example, cost anywhere from $30-50 million dollars each. I think that there are at least 4 here in Rochester for the weekend (maybe 6) representing a total of anywhere between $120 – 200 million dollars in hardware. Let alone that they cost somewhere in the range of $26 thousand dollars an hour to be in the air and about $10 million a year to maintain. And that’s just the F-16’s![1] Furthermore, each F-16 can be equipped with about 6 sidewinder missiles – each costing about $350,000.
Just let those numbers sink in. And think about what else we might do with those hundreds of millions of dollars.
And now think about the purpose of those war planes. They have been used in our combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and are currently being sent to the Middle East related to the protection of shipping lanes. They have been sold to many NATO allies to boost their air arsenal. While they may serve as a form of entertainment at an air show, make no mistake about the purpose of the F-16. The Air Force describes it as, “a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft…highly maneuverable and has proven itself in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack. It provides a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations…It can locate targets in all weather conditions and detect low flying aircraft in radar ground clutter..[and] can fly more than 500 miles, deliver its weapons with superior accuracy, defend itself against enemy aircraft, and return to its starting point.”[2]
In the United States, we spend about 1/3 of our national budget on the military. In fact we spend more on defense than the next 10 countries combined.[3]
Probably like many of you, I have many family members who served in the military. My dad served in the Army National Guard for his entire career. Two of my uncles fought in Vietnam and another fought in Korea. In fact, when I was growing up, I spent a lot of time at our local armory literally playing on howitzers and Army jeeps (while my dad was at meetings in the same building). And so this issue is one that carries a lot of mixed emotions for me because I want to honor my family legacy. At the same time I find in me a deep calling to dismantle the very systems that are part of that legacy.
In April, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his now famous “Beyond Vietnam” speech at the historic Riverside Church. In that speech, he said that “a nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”[4] He went on to link what he called the “giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism” as something that we in this country need to address if we are to get on the “right side of history” let alone if we are to live into our Christian values.
My heart is heavy because I am not sure that much has changed since King’s assessment in 1967. While many of us have committed ourselves to anti-racism and anti-materialism, I am not as convinced that we have dedicated ourselves to a vigorous opposition to militarism as well. I know that I have not, and the war planes flying overhead this week have awakened something new in me to keep making this vital connection in our efforts towards nonviolence.
War, national defense and militarism have become so deeply woven into the fabric of our society that it can be hard to imagine our country without them. And here in Rochester we have some major companies and universities with explicit defense department connections. Our local economy is supported by the military-industrial complex.
Obviously, militarism won’t be undone anytime in the near future, yet we are called by our faith tradition to engage this critical and challenging issue. In some circles, even speaking about such things is often labeled as “unpatriotic” and controversial. And yet if we do not keep speaking about it, critiquing it, and imagining a different world how can we move any closer to this ideal?
I wish that I could give everyone a neat, tidy “3 things you can do to end militarism right now!” but it’s not that simple. Nonviolence requires a massive paradigm shift for most of us that will necessitate significant reflection, practice, study and engagement. It will likely require civil disobedience and protest, and it might even be violently opposed. But as I hear the war planes fly overhead, I know down deep that war (and all its machinery) is not the way we move forward.
In closing his speech (and I would highly encourage you to read his full speech here), King urged us to “rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world…The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.”
That crucial moment remains upon us.
Albert Einstein told us back in the 1940’s that we cannot “simultaneously prepare for war and prevent war.” We must choose a path, and our world has had plenty of practice preparing for war. We desperately need to start practicing for a world without war.
[1] Note: I found it hard to get exact numbers for all of these stats, so I am doing my best estimate with what I could find on the internet.
[2] https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104505/f-16-fighting-falcon/
[3] https://www.pgpf.org/chart-archive/0053_defense-comparison#:~:text=Defense%20spending%20accounts%20for%2012,of%20the%20annual%20federal%20budget.
[4] https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
11 Comments
Daryl Odhner
I am so much in agreement with these thoughts. Also, the fossil fuel quantity that our country’s military uses is staggering. I also felt trepidation while seeing those Jets fly overhead.
Daryl Odhner
I also long for our culture to imagine other forms of patriotism among our fellow citizens, apart from military service. People who dedicate themselves to serving others in healthcare, social work, environmental causes, etc.—especially in volunteer capacities—are reflecting well on our country, and manifesting real patriotism in that sense. They should be recognized as our patriotic heroes and role models.
Marilyn Rizzo-Ferris
Mike, you have given me much more to think about. I had been thinking of the environmental impact of the air show. Now I think more deeply that “peace begins with me” and the need to share in an appropriate way what & how our world is impacted by things that have been common place activities. Thank you, Mike.
Peter Veitch
We are a far more primitive and barbaric species than we are willing to admit. Our militarism, like our racism and all of our other problematic ‘isms’ flow from our primal and base fear responses.
While we must rail against these destructive impulses we have to periodically remember that we are animals evolving, very slowly.
It is the responsibility of the most highly evolved to lead by example; artists, writers, spiritual guides, etc. must crucify ourselves in the attempt to slowly drag forward the impossibly heavy burden of those lagging behind, and rest when possible.
Linda DiStefano
As I stood in Genesee Valley Park 20 years ago for a concert, the Blue Angels were performing. I was mesmerized (I love air shows) and ooohing and aaahing, when a woman near me said, “That’s the last sound children in Iraq hear before being incinerated by American bombs.” I was so struck with those words that I could neither move nor respond. It was (is) true. On the other hand, if we had no defense, where would we be? The Iraq war, as well as the Vietnam war, were built on lies. And how many more were?
On the other hand, we need a strong defense. Otherwise, “Democracy” would be all but gone. Conundrum.
Stephen T Tedesco
Sad but true. The world is a violent place, and the United States does not exist in a vacuum. But over the past few years we have moved from a defender of human rights to an aggressor. This is a dangerous trend.
Steve Heveron-Smith
Mike, I feel your conflict. As a Navy veteran of the Vietnam era with two brothers who fought in VIetnam, another brother who was in the Navy, along with my dad during WWII and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins, I also feel a need to speak up. As a member of Veterans for Peace, along with other vets in Spiritus, I know that even in VFP, there are different views of what should be done. People in this country and across the world are on a very wide spectrum. How do we “keep the peace” in this world where over and over again we see leaders of countries violently oppressing others, invading other countries and murdering at will. It’s a hard balance. I do believe we are way out of balance in our spending on military, and that we could create as many jobs and enrich our country much more if we spent much of that money on caring for our population and our planet. We could also have a military that does “protect” us and the world around us. It’s definitely a complex question.
Michael Bleeg
Mike,
I agree with the need to reduce the military-industrial complex culture and expense. In addition to the spiritual reasons, the annual Federal deficit is a major reason to significantly reduce this spending.
Karen Keenan
Thank you for your very thoughtful article, Mike. I feel the same mix of thoughts and emotions- awe of the technological expertise, honoring of those who have served in the military; but I can’t turn my eyes from the literal picture of prioritizing an economy that is heavily based on military spending and preparation for war in contrast to the perennial drastic underfunding of education and social services , as well as the enormous impact on the environment of jet fuel and all that is involved operation of the planes in the air show . In addition, how does the sound of the planes sit with those veterans and refugees with PTSD from war zones? The excitement of the air show does not exist in a vacuum, and your blog helps us to be mindful of the fuller picture.
Annie OReilly
Thank you, Mike for a good look at US military spending. I get mailings from a war tax resistance group called, “National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee,” NWTRCC.org. One of their mottoes is, “If you work for peace, stop paying for war.” Every April, I agonize over this issue. Most of the time it is not an individual matter and the people you share income with may not agree with your stance. I think it would be a great resource if we could continue this conversation with Spiritus Christi parishioners and perhaps invite NWTRCC to educate us on the procedures and ramifications of withholding some or all of our taxes. Hopefully we can share the expenses of getting them here with Gandhi Institute and churches in the area.
Candice Wells
I have had many family members and friends who served in WWII, desert storm and Afghanistan. I confess to have a soft spot in my heart for them. I would think that most of them looking down on us now would choose peace. The bigger threats to this world are global warming and pandemic. I think the military should use much of their budget to develop strategies to help with those existential threats. We know how pandemics impact the whole world soon global warming will too if we don’t act to slash the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere.
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