Is a Pandemic More of a Threat to National Security Than War
by John Lawrence, May 16, 2020
Bill Gates thinks so. He's been warning world leaders and everyone else since his now famous Ted talk in 2015. However, the US has been spending over a trillion dollars a year on preparations for war, and nothing on preparations for a pandemic until one was upon us. Now it is costing trillions of dollars dwarfing the defense budget. Not to be outdone, the military-industrial complex is turning its attention to preparations for war with China which happens to be the current bogieman. China sort of snuck up on us while Lockheed Martin and others were promoting east European countries for membership in NATO with the incentive that they would locate defense plants there contributing to their economic development. They had been successful in locating subcontractors in every Congressional district so that they would have plenty of support from Congress for their projects such as the F-22 and the F-35. Now they would have subcontractors in places like Romania and Poland so that enthusiastic leaders in those countries would be cheerleading NATO membership.
So as they turn their attention towards China, Lockheed Martin and other defense contractors will no doubt be promoting location of defense plants in southeast Asia and the Pacific region. It has to be this way because Big Pharma does not have any interest in making vaccines or preparing for a pandemic. There's no money in it. That's why it falls to the lot of the Gates foundation, which doesn't need to make a profit, to spend their endowment supporting vaccine development and public health. The military-industrial complex has found a sure thing in the promotion of preparedness for war even though today it's becoming increasingly evident that the billions spent on hardware for war is money wasted when the real threats come from pandemics, global warming and extreme poverty in the world. The problem is there is no profit in providing solutions to these problems. Only people like Bill Gates who as private citizens have large sums of money to spend are even interested in finding and implementing solutions.
In March 2015, Mr. Gates warned in a widely watched TED Talk that an infectious disease pandemic posed a greater threat to the world than a nuclear war because nations have built so few defenses. He called for an international warning-and-response system with mobile units of medical personnel, rapid diagnostics, drug stockpiles and technologies to produce vaccines in months. So what did the world do in response: NOTHING. What has the world done in response to the global warming crisis: NOTHING. What has the world done to mitigate extreme poverty: NOTHING. What has the world done to foment war and aggravate tensions among nations: EVERYTHING.
At least 70.8 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 25.9 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. There are also millions of stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and lack access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment and freedom of movement. What is the US doing to ameliorate the situations of these people: NOTHING. These children growing up in these harsh conditions are the future haters of the US. They are the future ISIS and al Qaeda fighters. The US is spending trillions on preparations for war in order to fight these children when they grow up in a few short years. Climate change is only going to aggravate the conditions of the poorest people in the world.
Governor Cuomo has said that his approach to solving the pandemic crisis is based on science and data driven. This in and of itself puts him at odds with President Trump and all his anti-intellectual and conspiracy theory driven followers. Trump and the neocon Republicans have been profiting from whipping up anti-intellectual hysteria for years. Their vendetta against Hillary Clinton was because she was too competent, she was too smart. They preferred a dumb ass like Trump. It's this mentality along with a military establishment and military mindset that glorifies war that will probably mean that an armageddon of one sort or other - whether it is ongoing pandemics, climate change or nuclear war - will determine the fate of the earth and humanity.
