Foreign and Domestic Policies

by David E. Hopper

The President, Prime Minister or King has the solemn duty to defend the nation “against all enemies foreign and domestic” as the US Constitution says. The very notion of having a foreign or domestic policy implies by definition some type of understanding of various forces that inhabit the landscape, such as political and economic, forward thinking people, think tanks, and enemies, etc. We’ve reached a point in our evolution where business as usual does not work anymore.


Consider some of the major issues facing humanity and the foreign and domestic policies of any nation: hunger, poverty, famine, AIDS (which is decimating villages and nations in Africa), the “never ending war” mentality, continual weapons sales around the world for political motive and profit, militarization of space, environmental catastrophes whether its man made pollution or from nature, such as volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. population and over development of the Earth’s surface without care for the future consequences, etc.
Most of these issues, are only a fraction of problems that many nations must deal with sooner or later. Any one of these issues alone, requires massive amounts of resources be it outlays of money, personnel, equipment, and skilled and trained workers for managing damage control after the problem is already onset.

We are, **all of humanity** driven by war, short sidedness, lack of vision and courage, greed and profit. Collectively we are destroying ourselves and the Earth by our current choices. We make choices daily by how we see or don’t see each other, how we respect or disrespect each other, how we choose to communicate or not communicate with each other or how we choose to cooperate with the environment or not. Yes I agree, the majority of the damage is being done by the Western nations, which are driven by their gluttonous desire for more goods and services, particularly from the developing nations. Each problem is so enormous that to understand it properly, one must look at other related problems which overlap and influence all the others.

There are root causes to all issues, but to understand them the major issues of humanity in my mind, have to be looked at with a sense of wholeness. There are no easy answers. There’s no overnight solutions. Indeed, even if there were a master plan put together by some genius that the problems we face collectively, we would not see “positive changes” for likely 2 generations once instituted.

Problems such as hunger and poverty for example, are so entrenched in our consciousness from generation to generation that our very thoughts would have to be realigned to accommodate the new idea that **everyone is being fed daily in the world** or that it is the moral duty of every nation to see that its citizenry is being properly fed, clothed, adequate shelter provided, proper medical attention being administered, etc. This is certainly a thoughtform that we are not used to hearing. Can you think of a world where violence between ethnic groups and nations no longer exists but instead all disagreements are negotiated thorough diplomacy or conflict resolution? I believe a master plan is possible but to create it would require somebody, some organization or an international blue ribbon commission to tackle these daunting problems with courage and an open mind not to mention a collective will. Currently, the mentality of “we can work this out together without fighting” does not exist on the international stage. This level of thinking only exists only in the minds of certain individual and some isolated organizations, which are working to bring peace in our world.

Since the end of WWII, the Western nations, led by politicians and market forces of industry and technology (i.e. corporations) have created numerous trading blocsto a recent phenomena known as globalization. has gripped the minds and hearts of politicians, financiers, heads of state, economists, and the average person in all nations. They have been driven by one main idea, that to work and acquire more goods and services is a good thing. At this point, I will say from the outset there is nothing wrong with wanting a special widget for making my life work and feel better. But how much is enough? It’s a 24/7- non stop demand from more. The corporations or politicians or economists don’t seem to mind. They not only control the world stage with this “never ending flow of goods” mentality, that no body seems to ask the questions, “…is what we are creating really necessary and for what overall purpose?….are we creating too much?….is what I have or want hurting anybody else or the environment?…is this widget nourishing me spiritually and making me feel better about my fellow man/woman and the environment?” In my mind, what is required is a paradigm shift in consciousness where we have to ask the basic question, “….who are we?….why are we doing this?….is it really necessary?…is there another way to solve this?” From this line of questioning, indeed a psychological approach, we see the beginning of a shift in consciousness and perspective of the changes that are necessary to begin to solve humanity’s most pressing problems.

On the today’s political front, nations are so paranoid and wanting to affix blame for “X” problem, that threats and war are considered a reasonable alternative to diplomacy. In the United States, the current US Administration wants to modernize a nuclear arsenal that can already destroy the Earth’s surface dozens of time over. Do we need to spend the money on that? Also this same Administration wants to militarize space with so called “Star Wars” weaponry. Forget that fact, that the United Nations Charter forbids this type of activity. Do we need to spend the money on that? We’re not even talking about the cost of such endeavors, let alone the money that gets taken away from social programs and activities that protects and enhances civilization for generations to come. Then there is the age old problem of weapon sales to other nations. Our arms industries makes all sorts of nasty weapons to do whatever level of destruction you want, all for a price. “Its only business”. Never mind the responsibility the United States for fomenting and / or causing numerous wars, massacres, insurrections, random killings in places around the world just so the strongly protected arms industries can make a profit. Never mind, that we almost completely don’t care who we sell our weapons to, as long as money or some deal can be worked out. “Its just a business deal, its not my responsibility into whose hands these weapons end up”. Just looking at Saddam Hussein and his nefarious activities over the last 30 years, France, Great Britain, Untied States, Germany and Russia all have contributed to allowing Saddam to rise and stay in power.

The United States stands out as the one who sold the most weaponry to Saddam so he could commit genocide against the Kurds and the Iranians using weapons of mass destruction, e.g. biological weapons. The United States even gave weapons to Osama Bin Laden when he was fighting the Soviets when they invaded Afghanistan in the late 1970’s and now the Western nations cry “he’s a monster for what he’s done”. Where’s the responsibility? The karma lies squarely on the backs of the people and nations that allows people such as Saddam and Ben Laden to do the things they do. To further affix blame, the people of these nations also have to take responsibility for allowing their government to be allowed to sell weapons that ultimately has killed scores of other fellow human beings, including children. Right now in Iraq, the United States is using depleted uranium (DU) in its weaponry. When exploded, it convincingly kills its intended target and pollutes the area for untold period of time with radioactivity. Its well documented about the destructive effects of radioactivity on the human body and other ecosystems.

It is not my intention per se to place blame only on the Western nations. The Developing nations too buy many of these weapons and commit unspeakable crimes. Not to belabor a point, but if we continue to have a foreign policy, such as that of the United States that says “its in our national interests to fight for what is ours” (never mind the fact that it is not, such as oil in the Middle East, then we are a probably a doomed civilization of unending wars, destruction to the environment and further entrenching values that reward the materialistic over the humanistic part of ourselves. We will never have peace with this frame of mind. The problem is solved by first acknowledging that the problem is how we think about our world and its peoples and its lifeforms. What do we value? Is it a materialistic way of life that puts pressure on every square inch of land on earth just so the corporations can continue to flourish under globalization? Is it a materialistic way of life that justifies war just because its in our “national interest”?

The choices are hard and require courage. The first step is to acknowledge that our foreign policy, which is tied partly into our domestic policy, is not working and indeed is causing untold problems abroad, mostly for the benefit for the corporations. Second, spend whatever is necessary and assign a think tank or group of scholars, social scientists, politicians and career diplomats the task of creating a new foreign policy. A foreign policy that primarily addresses solving problems, bringing interested parties to the table to negotiate and cooperate instead of talking at the point of a gun. Third, institute a public relations campaign to inform the public of the commission’s activities either through town hall meetings, such as talking about issues and promoting cooperation and understanding of what is important and what must change. Forth, reallocate the majority of monies currently going to the Pentagon and defense contractors who are busy 24 hours a day building a better bomb, and give and promote domestic programs, such as educational and environmental causes. This is just the beginning of a whole realignment in our consciousness and indeed our national soul of how we conduct our affairs with each other and the environment.

**See also my article on: "The karmic implications of the Energy and Arms industries on civilization" in this same web-blog.