The Peace Movement

Date: February 21, 2005
Sent to but not published by Boston Globe

The peace movement, despite the ongoing Iraq war, is alive and well. It lives all across this country in church basements and community centers. Perhaps because of the evident injustice of the current war the peace movement flourishes.

To the old idealism of the past has been added a very practical streak: assuming that once again there will be a peace dividend, how will it be invested? Major corporations follow the money in government contracts. Major defense organizations have the technology and the brains to make major inroads into solving the renewable energy problem. They have the brains and the technology to help educate the under-educated. They have the brains and the technology to bring to bear on the problems of the inner cities. There are a multitude of problems to be solved. Weaning the defense industry from military contracts to solve the problems of our civil society is the way to go once the present war is behind us.