Peace In His Lifetime
By Melissa Garriga
“Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within.” Ruha Benjamin
My oldest son was born in November of 2003 - 8 months after the United States invaded Iraq. He has grown up in a country that has been at war with the world in some way since he took his first breath. We wage wars in countries far away from his life here in Mississippi. Yet, the culture of war and the destructiveness of the war economy limit his future here at home.
As parents, we want to give our children a stable and peaceful life. We want to provide them with every opportunity to thrive. We want to but we cannot. For parents of a generation born into constant war and conflict - that's become almost impossible.
They were born in a country that blatantly values war and conflict over peace and diplomacy. They are constantly exposed to the militarization of communities and schools. We tell them to value education and to develop a strong work ethic. Yet our country refuses to value workers and at every corner devalues education. By pumping nearly a trillion dollars into our national defense budget our country tells them weapons and war mean more than healthcare and happiness.
What’s worse? They can’t even see that a better world is possible. Everything in our culture, from our news to our entertainment, is full of war propaganda. They are stuck in a dystopian nightmare of death, violence, and hopelessness. But that’s not their only option. A peaceful and a just society is possible. A world without war is not a utopian idea. The problem is it is not a priority. We must make it one.
According to National Priorities recent The Warfare State report:
In FY 2023, out of a $1.8 trillion federal discretionary budget, $1.1 trillion — or 62 percent— was for militarized programs. That includes war and weapons, law enforcement and mass incarceration, and detention and deportation.
Less than $2 out of every $5 in federal discretionary spending was available to fund investment in people and communities, including primary and secondary public education, housing programs, child care programs, federal disaster relief, environmental programs, and scientific research.
It seems like such an easy fix, right? Except the war lobby is strong and there are currently no voices for peace taking up full-time residency in Congress. For some reason, elected officials say that they have to see that peace is popular. Apparently, it’s going to take us all to get loud for peace. Louder than war profiteers. Louder than the war hawks. After all, Frederick Douglas taught us that change doesn’t happen without a demand.
I demand peace in my son’s lifetime. He deserves it - we all do. I want my son to be able to have children in a world that prioritizes his needs. We must stop future generations from being born into a world of constant war and conflict.
That’s why this summer CODEPINK asks everyone to get loud for the world we want. A peaceful world that offers a future of hope and promise; not death and destruction. Join us in our Summer of Peace and help us drown out the beating war drums with messages of love and hope.
Melissa Garriga is the communications and media analysis manager for CODEPINK. She writes about the intersection of militarism and the human cost of war