Since World War II – and especially since the Soviet Union collapsed more than 20 year ago – the US has been the world’s #1 military power. And, indeed, the US has used that military power continuously since the 1940s in many places throughout the world.
The justifying buzz word has always been “national security” – as if a bigger military, more nuclear weapons, and more military attacks on other countries would make our nation more secure. But even after all of this, Americans still feel insecure.
Indeed, when you look at how the US interacts with other nations around the world, you can see that the US government, US military power, and US economic power all feel confident that our nation can do whatever it wants.
Not everybody is happy about this. The writers of ancient Greek tragedies recognized the meaning of the Greek word hubris – the arrogance and the “pride that goes before a fall.”
Militarism is always promoted as the solution. But what if militarism is actually the problem? What if excessive militarism actually hurts the U.S.?
This is the question that our two guests — Ellen Finkelstein and Larry Kerschner — explored during the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s November 2012 TV interview.
Both Ellen and Larry have long, deep history in organizing for peace.