Short title: Eliminate U.S. military
Sponsors: David Rolde, Danny Factor
Summary: This proposal is for the GRP to take a position in favor of totally eliminating the U.S. military, reducing U.S. military spending to zero, and banning the use of military force by the U.S. regime.
Background: The U.S. military is a set of institutions that constitute a most violent and destructive curse against humanity and this planet. For over two centuries he U.S. military has engaged in genocidal bombings, invasions and occupations of numerous countries and has caused enormous human suffering, environmental and cultural destruction. The U.S. military serves the interests of imperialist monopoly capitalist corporations, the greedy and parasitic military-industrial complex, and the colonial white nationalist power structure that stole this continent from the indigenous people and instituted slavery of kidnapped Africans. The U.S. military serves no legitimate purpose. “Department of Defense” is a deliberate misnomer as it is really a department of imperialist war. The U.S. military is also responsible for an enormous amount of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The continuation of the existence of the U.S. military is completely contrary to the Green and Green-Rainbow key value of Nonviolence. And the continued existence of the U.S. military may soon lead to the destruction of the world and the end of life on Earth. It is imperative to shut down the U.S. military.
But the GPUS Platform and GRP Agenda currently do not communicate a strong enough position. The GRP agenda says, “Our Congressional delegation should be instructed to support downsizing of the bloated military budget”. The GPUS Platform says, “The United States government must reduce our defense budget to half of its current size.” The GPUS Platform also unfortunately says that the U.S. regime should militarily attack other countries if the UN Security Council rubber-stamps it. (The wording is, “The U.S. is obligated to render military assistance or service under U.N. command to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
The GRP should take a position that we want to eliminate the U.S. military, and that the U.S. regime should never use military force. This is not an issue of degree, that some level of brutal polluting parasitic imperialist military would be ok and that we just need to reduce to the appropriate level. No, this is something that must be abolished. The world may not survive much longer with even five or ten percent of the current evil of the U.S. military. If the world is going to survive then the U.S. military is going to be eliminated, whether by the Green Party or by someone else. If there is some small positive function that is done by the U.S. military – and I don’t think there is – then that small program or function could be transferred to a non-military department.
Proposal Text:
- The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts will issue a statement: “Whereas the U.S. military serves no useful purpose and is used solely for imperialist war and to enrich arms manufacturers; and whereas the U.S. military wreaks terrible social and environmental destruction which is threatening the future of life on Earth; and whereas the U.S. military consumes enormous amounts of resources that could be used to sustainably provide for human needs, the Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts recognizes that cutting U.S. military spending in half (or some other arbitrary amount) is not enough. The Green-Rainbow Party calls for the total elimination of the U.S. military and weapons industry and reduction of U.S. military spending to zero. This should include the elimination of all military spending whether it is part of the official “department of defense” budget or budgeted through other U.S. government agencies, e.g., nuclear weapons budgeted through the department of energy. We call for a complete federal audit to find and eliminate secret military spending. The Green-Rainbow Party will not support spending any money on offensive military attacks, invasions, occupations or threats against countries anywhere in the world or on producing or buying weapons which would be used for these purposes. We also oppose all U.S. arms sales to other countries. The Green-Rainbow Party demands that U.S. foreign policy be conducted through fair, honest and open diplomacy without violence or threats, and that the U.S. government recognize the sovereignty and interests of other countries as being equally important as our interests. The Green-Rainbow Party calls for a complete transformation of U.S. spending and economy out of weapons, war and colonial occupation. The Green-Rainbow Party is in favor of spending necessary to carry out this transformation and necessary to dismantle weapons. The Green-Rainbow Party calls for reparations to be paid to victims of the U.S. military and its wars all over the world. Veterans should have their healthcare paid for through a single payer universal healthcare system the same as everyone in this country, not through a separate military healthcare system. We recognize that eliminating the U.S. military is a big change, and therefore might seem too radical to some people, but we take this position because it is a moral and existential imperative”
- The Green-Rainbow Party will modify our Party Agenda to call for the elimination of the U.S. military and for the reduction of U.S. military spending to zero and to be in line with the above statement. The GRP will put this position in any future Platform documents.
- The Green-Rainbow Party will submit or support proposals to amend the GPUS Platform to make the following changes in Section I. Democracy, D. Foreign Policy, 1 Foreign Policy — Peace and Disarmament
- Eliminate plank d. “We recognize and support the right of the U.N. to intervene in a nation-state engaged in genocidal acts or in its persistent violation and denial of the human rights of an ethnic or religious group within its boundaries, and the right to protect the victims of such acts.”
- Eliminate 1. plank e. “The U.S. is obligated to render military assistance or service under U.N. command to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
- Change the second plank b. from “Our defense budget has increased out of all proportion to any military threat to the United States, and to our domestic social, economic and environmental needs. The United States government must reduce our defense budget to half of its current size. The 2012 defense budget exceeded $700 billion, and that does not take into account military expenditures not placed under the defense budget.” to “The U.S. military serves no legitimate purpose and is used solely for imperialist war and to enrich weapons manufacturers. The U.S. military wreaks terrible social and environmental destruction. The U.S. military wastes resources that could be used for positive purposes. The 2012 budget of the so-called ‘Department of Defense’ exceeded $700 billion, and that does not take into account military expenditures not placed under the ‘Department of Defense’ budget. The United States government must totally eliminate its military and all military spending. Necessary expenditures for transition and disarmament are acceptable. Necessary non-military government functions that had been conducted by the so-called ‘Department of Defense’ may be transferred to other branches of government and continued.”
- Change the second plank c. from “The U.S. has over 700 foreign military bases. We urge our government to phase out all bases not specifically functioning under a U.N. resolution to keep peace and bring home our troops stationed abroad, except for the military assigned to protect a U.S. embassy. Many of these bases are small and can be closed immediately. We advocate further reductions in U.S. foreign military bases at a rate of closure of 1/4 to 1/5 of their numbers every year.” to “The U.S. has over 700 foreign military bases. All U.S. foreign military bases must be closed immediately and all troops brought home. Domestic military bases should be closed too. All U.S. troops should be discharged from military service and offered civilian jobs or economic human rights entitlements just like everyone else in this country.”
Implementation: The statement should be issued by Adcom. The GRP Platform committee should reconvene to modify the Party Agenda. The sponsors of this proposal, along with the GRP reps to the GPUS Platform Committee and GPUS National Committee, will be responsible for submission of the amendment proposals to the GPUS Platform Committee and/or conveyance of our support for these proposed platform amendments to GPUS bodies.
Financial Impact: None or minimal
Showing 19 reactions
The military has historically both trained and employed thousands of people but now it seems to be more chronically disruptive and destructive. Having said that, the military is a tool that employs medical and legal professionals and technical and scientific people and construction workers and the list goes on much like that of the Romans in Life of Brian. This tool may currently be occupying sovereign nations but they. Could be returned home to do so many things including transforming our infrastructure to a green one and educating workers to run it.
I disagree with the dissolution of it but feel we should work to use the tool for humanity as it has also been used historically.
Among the changes needed are the restriction of executive control when invading other countries. We need to create a clear mission statement describing the use of the military. We need to donate our bases as improvements to localities we have occupied and probably a few apologies.
I also want to say that The Green Party should never oppose a position because it is deemed “impractical”. Abolishing slavery, or allowing most people to vote were once considered to be just that. Our positions must reflect how to truly implement our values, detached from any dangerous pre-conceived notions like “this is the way things will always be.” If our party really has a unique role to play in the American political system, let’s not wait until someone else proposes this first. There are an infinite amount of bandwagons to jump on. Let’s instead build our own and then call on others to join us.
Short title: Eliminate U.S. military
Sponsor: David Rolde, seeking co-sponsors
Note: This is an edited resubmission of a proposal that was submitted for Jan 2018 GRP Statecom meeting
Seeking review and feedback from Platform Committee (if it can be reconvened), Legislative Committee, GRP Local Chapters, Membership & Diversity Committee (MDVR), Adcom, Statecom members
Summary: This proposal is for the GRP to take a position in favor of totally eliminating the U.S. military, reducing U.S. military spending to zero, and banning the use of military force by the U.S. regime.
Background: The U.S. military is a set of institutions that constitute a most violent and destructive curse against humanity and this planet. For over two centuries he U.S. military has engaged in genocidal bombings, invasions and occupations of numerous countries and has caused enormous human suffering, environmental and cultural destruction. The U.S. military serves the interests of imperialist monopoly capitalist corporations, the greedy and parasitic military-industrial complex, and the colonial white nationalist power structure that stole this continent from the indigenous people and instituted slavery of kidnapped Africans. The U.S. military serves no legitimate purpose. “Department of Defense” is a deliberate misnomer as it is really a department of imperialist war. The U.S. military is also responsible for an enormous amount of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The continuation of the existence of the U.S. military is completely contrary to the Green and Green-Rainbow key value of Nonviolence. And the continued existence of the U.S. military may soon lead to the destruction of the world and the end of life on Earth. It is imperative to shut down the U.S. military.
But the GPUS Platform and GRP Agenda currently do not communicate a strong enough position. The GRP agenda says, “Our Congressional delegation should be instructed to support downsizing of the bloated military budget”. The GPUS Platform says, “The United States government must reduce our defense budget to half of its current size.” The GPUS Platform also unfortunately says that the U.S. regime should militarily attack other countries if the UN Security Council rubber-stamps it. (The wording is, “The U.S. is obligated to render military assistance or service under U.N. command to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
The GRP should take a position that we want to eliminate the U.S. military, and that the U.S. regime should never use military force. This is not an issue of degree, that some level of brutal polluting parasitic imperialist military would be ok and that we just need to reduce to the appropriate level. No, this is something that must be abolished. The world may not survive much longer with even five or ten percent of the current evil of the U.S. military. If the world is going to survive then the U.S. military is going to be eliminated, whether by the Green Party or by someone else. If there is some small positive function that is done by the U.S. military – and I don’t think there is – then that small program or function could be transferred to a non-military department.
Proposal Text:
1. The Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts will issue a statement: “Whereas the U.S. military serves no useful purpose and is used solely for imperialist war and to enrich arms manufacturers; the Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts recognizes that cutting U.S. military spending in half (or some other arbitrary amount) is not enough. The Green-Rainbow Party calls for the total elimination of the U.S. military and reduction of U.S. military spending to zero. This should include the elimination of secret military spending that is not part of the official “department of defense” budget or that is budgeted through other U.S. government agencies. The Green-Rainbow Party will not support spending any money on offensive military attacks, invasions, occupations or threats against countries anywhere in the world or on producing or buying weapons which would be used for these purposes. The Green-Rainbow Party calls for a complete transformation of U.S. spending and economy out of weapons, war and colonial occupation.”
2. The Green-Rainbow Party will modify our Party Agenda to call for the elimination of the U.S. military and for the reduction of U.S. military spending to zero and to be in line with the above statement. The GRP will put this position in any future Platform documents.
3. The Green-Rainbow Party will submit a proposal for one or more amendments to the GPUS Platform to ask the GPUS to take our position on eliminating the U.S. military and banning use of military force by the U.S. regime. We will propose that the GPUS stop using the word “defense” to refer to military spending as the U.S. military does no legitimate defending. Two examples of changes that should be made in the GPUS Plaftorm are 1. that ““The United States government must reduce our defense budget to half of its current size” should be changed to “The United States military must be eliminated. The United States government must reduce our MILITARY budget to zero”, and 2. the Platform plank that says ““The U.S. is obligated to render military assistance or service under U.N. command to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions.” should be removed.
Implementation: This proposal can be implemented by a reconvened GRP Platform Committee with the work overseen and approved by Adcom or Statecom, and by the GRP representative(s) to GPUS Platform Committee
Financial Impact: None or minimal