RCPJ flyer

THE RACINE COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW:

 

3% of U.S. military spending could end starvation on earth. No other nation spends any where near this rate on their militaries, and Costa Rica hasn’t even had an army since 1948.

 

So far, the Iran war has cost us over $62 billion.

 

Israel got all the bombs they wanted from the U.S. with which to commit genocide against the Palestinians even though five separate U.S. laws were broken with each shipment.

 

The U.S. has over 900 bases all around the world in other nations. What other nation has even one base in the U.S.?

 

An analysis documented the malfeasance of TransDigm, a military parts supplier, that the Department of Defense’s Inspector General caught overcharging the Pentagon by as much as 3,800% on routine items. Other arms makers also routinely exorbitantly overcharge.

 

These exorbitant charges and the fact that the Pentagon has never passed an audit means our money is being thrown away.

 

Wouldn’t you like instead of all this spending on killing, maiming and destruction things like an end to homelessness, Medicare for all, free college tuition, a sincere effort to address climate change and other social benefits?

 

Like Costa Rica, we don’t even need a military.

 

The arms merchants are never going to tell you that between 1900 and 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts.

 

See https://www.ericachenoweth.com/research/wcrw

 

They aren’t going to tell you of GENE SHARP'S 198 METHODS OF NONVIOLENT ACTION:

 

https://wri-irg.org/en/resources/2008/gene-sharps-198-methods-nonviolent-action

 

David Swanson compiled these 89 examples of nonviolent resistance:

 

https://davidswanson.org/89-times-people-had-the-choice-of-war-or-nothing-and-chose-something-else-instead/

 

The Danes and Norwegians used some of these strategies when occupied by the Nazis.

 

By the way, these nonviolent strategies can be used against one’s own government.

 

Major General Smedley Butler (1881-1940) is best known for a pamphlet he penned in 1935 called War Is a Racket. Based on his career military experience, Butler discussed how business interests commercially benefit from warfare.

 

Ninety years later, war is still a racket and we are paying for it all. Arms merchants are the only ones that win wars.

--MMG, Sunday, Apr 26, 2026