(a boar is often held by a dog not large in size)

In the midst of our budget throes military spending seems seldom discussed. Yet it is a huge contributor to our debt  problems.

A couple of right wingers have claimed disaffection with activity in Libya, conveniently forgetting our entanglements in the region are overwhelmingly of their making.

Hubris has frequently been the downfall of Empire and we will be no exception.

We would be better served to dismantle the enormously expensive military machine and establish new strategies to either disrupt or distract unpleasant regimes with stealth, insurgency and the long arm of technology. One would think we would learn something from the unending assailants of our world view who employ these cost-effective tools.

We know from the limited democracy we practice at home, there is never an absence of dissidence. The trick is to fold it into the larger picture so it does not become rampant, yet gains a foothold in our collective voice. This is a definition of democracy.

We should take note, defense is an industry. Industry runs on profit and loss. It follows aggression is also an industry and the profit is greater since consumption of product is higher. One could easily draw comparisons between Defense and Wall Street where a wealthy and irresponsible few promote financially ruinous policies, with consequences they can escape while bankrupting the other 90 percent of the citizenry.

Given broadly available population statistics it becomes obvious the United States will not survive on sheer force. It is time we turned our considerable intellectual horsepower to strategies other than installing the precious currency of our youth upon hostile ground, squandering both them and our resources on win-less expeditions.

If government and corporate leadership consider adventurism a necessary pursuit, let them go. With today’s technology they can as easily pull the trigger as anyone.