Enough of warmongering - stop the build up of armaments - let's stop the war machines
Nature is awakening to a spring that fills the air with optimism and gives birth to new life. The political, economic and military elite though have no need for all that makes our lives joyful, safe and dignified. It relentlessly casts black clouds over the world and brings the gloom of death, shouting at every turn about the necessity of war and of build up of armaments. To its eyes anything that opposes this rush to war is at least naïve, if not openly hostile. But what is more naïve than the idea that a build-up in weapons and warmongering bring peace, and what is more hateful than stirring up of nationalism and hatred?
Not only have we normalised the state of war in supposedly distant lands like Sudan, Ethiopia, the Congo, which are co-driven by the very interests of our domestic elites. Not only that for a year and a half now we have been watching with horror the genocide in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine, in which the elites of practically the whole of the so-called Western world, including Slovenia, are actively participating. Not only have they virtually destroyed the possibility that Ukraine could ever again flourish as an inclusive, diverse, safe and open society in the imaginable future by rushing to war over the last decade. Now they want to bring the war even closer, to our doorsteps, to our homes. To this end, we are being bombarded with everything that makes war possible: nationalism, racism and, above all, the war propaganda that fills billboards, the media and social networks.
Not a day goes by when we are not bombarded with propaganda about the need to invest in the military, in armaments, in support for the arms industry and in the development of new murderous technologies. CEOs of arms companies are becoming the media's preferred interlocutors, while the so called 'military experts' are elevated to positions of absolute authority on the questions of social development. Although the ruling elite has changed its most popular slogan, its eagerness to impose its current agenda remains as aggressive and deaf to the real needs of the vast majority of the people. Previously it was posturing under the banner of the free market, but with the end of neoliberalism as the leading political ideology, it now wholeheartedly embraces war. Drunk on the prospect of destruction, it shouts at each other and at us all from behind its lecterns: More weapons! More war! More terror! More hatred! More patriotism!
As a part of all this concerted cheerleading for war the warmongers sometimes inadvertedly do mention the real reason for war: build up in armaments is good for business! A business that is still going on in the conditions of the further undermining of systems of public education and healthcare and - no surprises there - in the shadow of the preparations for a new episode of economic recession, a new round of capitalist crisis. But instead of directing the resources of society to protect people and society from the terrible consequences of capitalist devastation, the authorities are already doing the opposite, pouring more and more of public money into the war industry and into huge ill-considered infrastructure projects that will have the effect of undermining even further the prospects of the future for the vast majority.
Open warmongering, in many places led by supposedly social-democratic and liberal parties, goes hand in hand with the growing strength of political parties and movements with an openly fascist agenda. This is not surprising, since some of the so-called right-wing populists are practically the only political forces allowed into the mainstream of ordinary public debate that proclaim themselves to be striving for peace. In fact, much of the support that parties such as the AfD in Germany enjoy comes from the fact that they try to present themselves as supporters of peace. This should surprise no one, because people, especially the dispossessed majority, overwhelmingly do not want war and build up in armaments. But that does not mean that these parties, when they do get their hands on the levers of power, do not themselves become loyal instruments of militarism and other capitalist interests that go hand in hand with the war industry. Therefore, alongside the prophets of war, it is necessary to reject all those who tie the opposition to war to the values of hatred, racism and exclusion. We must build a genuine popular rejection of war, of armaments and of militarist mobilisation. This can only be done by insisting on a clear stance against war and militarism, regardless of the colour of the political power of the day, while at the same time providing active support to all those who are fleeing war, whether they are refugees or deserters.
The powers that be have long been able to offer only the darkest scenarios of a future that in turn plunges us all more and more towards a regime of despair and depression. If the Earth itself does not wipe us off its face as a consequence of climate change, the elites surely will. Unless, of course, we prevent them from doing so. Any chance of success in this struggle starts with rejecting the idea that the future can only be shaped as a catastrophe. We must first accept, at the most intimate, personal and then collective level, that there indeed is a future, that life has meaning and that it can be fought for. May the people of Gaza, who are sowing the seeds of new life amidst the ruins and in the shadow of continuing genocide, be a reminder and an encouragement to us. If they can do it, then so must we.
We are fed up with this catastrophic vision of the world. Let us live!
Stop the build up in armaments and the warmongering!
Revolt against the elites and fight for peace and security for all!
Initiative against militarism
17th March 2025