I see men and women wearing clown balloon helmets, so that people who normally frown can laugh a little. And instead of bombs, I think about planes that drop food packages to places where there are hungry people. And instead of gun shots, I think about medicine shots for all the sick people in the world who can’t afford certain vaccinations. And to me, that's serving and protecting.
And also, I think about the US military budget of $108.5 that goes toward “continuing the fight” and in my mind I think about fighting for affordable education, or providing more affordable housing, or creating more factories and then more jobs for Americans who might otherwise do other things that could be harmful to themselves and/ or society http://www.defense.gov/news/FY10%20Budget%20Request.pdf
And, I also think about strong armies and what it means to show strength. And I imagine huge muscley men and women lifting bags for weak people who can’t carry their groceries home, or picking up trash on streets, or pushing little people on swings.
And I know that sometimes people in the army really do these things. And it's amazing. And sometimes they even do more, which is really, really amazing. But maybe if armies existed for love instead of war there would be less hate. And, that's all I ever imagine in a world where everything is possible.
(photo from this story: http://www.daylife.com/photo/03jt88lfN20rb)
Blog inspired by David Vine, Sarah Block, Kara Newhouse and the rest of the people involved in my Spring '09 class Understanding War, Building Peace
(photo from this story: http://www.daylife.com/photo/03jt88lfN20rb)
Blog inspired by David Vine, Sarah Block, Kara Newhouse and the rest of the people involved in my Spring '09 class Understanding War, Building Peace
I love your blog, Shauna. The past few days I've been at conferences where I really appreciated the invention of simultaneous translation devices, however I prefer your ideas for inventions because they are not based on electronics and data systems blahblahblah.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, some people might say they'd like a chip planted in their brain to be able to understand any language. But I do not want a chip in my brain. I would rather eat potato chips flavored with the spices of different countries that made me able to understand people from that country for at least a day :)