A 2018 study of the opinions of people living in 156 nations found that none of the "great" powers -- all of which have portrayed themselves as models for the world -- ranked within the top ten. In fact, the United States placed 18th, Russia 59th, and China 86th. The factors that appear to have contributed most to national happiness were advanced social welfare institutions and a relatively low level of violence.
Published Articles by Lawrence Wittner
In February 2018, the GOP-controlled Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed legislation that increased U.S. military spending by $165 billion over the next two years. Remarkably, though, a Gallup poll, conducted only days before, found that only 33 percent of Americans favored increasing military spending, while 65 percent opposed it. Even more remarkable for a nation where military spending has grown substantially over the decades, in only one of the past 49 years when Gallup polled Americans about military spending did a majority of Americans favor increasing it.
When Donald Trump was running for the presidency, he promised that, if he was elected, "American worker[s] will finally have a president who will protect them and fight for them." Today, though, safely ensconced in the White House, President Trump is leading a fierce campaign against American workers -- one that is undermining their health and safety, lowering their wages, and weakening their unions.
In today's United States, many Americans accord an exalted status to anyone serving in the U.S. armed forces. But this across-the-board hero-worship of soldiers is a fairly recent phenomenon, and is not merited or conducive to the survival of a democratic society.
A U.S. Congressional investigation once called them the "Merchants of Death." Bob Dylan called them the "Masters of War." And today we just call them "defense contractors." But, whatever the name, they're doing very well for themselves at the public expense -- in fact, better than ever.
The estimated cost, when adjusted for inflation, for the planned "modernization" of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex has risen to $1.7 trillion. That money could provide an awful lot of healthcare, education, housing, parks, public transportation, roads, clean water, child nutrition, disability benefits, Social Security, and other public services to improve the lives of Americans. But, of course, it won't. Instead, it will be used to facilitate the race toward the human catastrophe of nuclear war.
The total takeover of the U.S. government by the Republican Party, occasioned by the GOP sweep in the 2016 elections, has produced a disaster for the peace movement -- and for anyone concerned about building a peaceful world. But the 2018 Congressional elections offer the movement a useful opportunity to help steer the U.S. government away from militarism and war.
The reckless threats of nuclear war flung back and forth between the North Korean and U.S. governments remind me of an event in which I participated back in the fall of 1961, when I was a senior at Columbia College. At that time, picketing against the renewal of atmospheric nuclear testing had a significant effect. Who knows what will happen today if enough people insist, loud and clear, that nuclear war is simply unacceptable?
Based on recent economic developments, the super-rich don't have much to complain about. Their wealth is skyrocketing, public policy favors their interests, and just eight men now possess the same wealth as half the world's population. But they do face problems, including how to spend the enormous amounts of money that they are amassing, how to find hardworking and deferential servants, and -- above all -- how to stave off popular resistance or even revolt.
In a world bristling with nuclear weapons, savage wars, accelerating climate change, rapidly-depleting resources, and growing economic inequality, we need a global entity to take the necessary actions for which no single nation has sufficient legitimacy, power, or resources. And that entity is clearly a strengthened United Nations.