“Give Peace A Chance” Mr. Chopra?

January 26, 2010 by EnnisP
Filed under: Philosophy, Political Issues

The Huffington Post has a habit of featuring well known but sometimes senseless writers. The strategy is good for attracting readers but it fails at the point of objectivity. These writers come with an agenda – usually personal, are not philosophically neutral, offer no specific solution to any problem, real or not, and if one is not familiar with all the material that made them popular in the first place its difficult to see where these writers are coming from or headed to. Like preachers who make unsubstantiated, illogical statements, bolstered mostly by emotion, they state a point without actually making it.

That is the case with Mr. Chopra; Deepak that is.

A piece he wrote for The San Francisco Chronicle also appeared in the HP (20 July 2009) in which he pleads with America to stop being a “Superpower,” a term that in most dictionaries refers to a high level of cultivation in several areas: economic, academic, sociopolitical and, yes, military. Good character and appreciation for virtue are also implied.

But after reading Mr. Chopra one gets the idea that “Superpower” is equivalent only to military thuggery and, of course, since America is THE Superpower and since the US has initiated military activity recently – resulting in more problems than solutions – he suggests we should redirect our military spending to “productive jobs and rebuild infrastructure, not more arms” (his words). I wonder if he understands the connection between military spending and jobs? I wonder if he knows how many civilian sectors have benefitted from military R & D: engineering, medical, technological and so on?

In his diatribe against American policies he makes contradictory statements, claiming on the one hand that the US maintains “a massive standing army” and on the other, to a “tiny portion of our populace” fighting wars abroad. Which term is it Mr. Chopra, “massive” or “tiny?”

For the record, the US presently maintains a combined military force – Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard – of approximately 1.5 million all of which are voluntary. There are approximately 850,000 in reserve. In comparison, the US military of WW2 days was 16 million, which means we have been doing what Mr. Chopra recommends – reducing military manpower – for quite some time. He is a little late with his advice and isn’t quite aware of the facts but we thank him for concurring.

Unfortunately, Mr. Chopra doesn’t stop there. He also asks several searching questions in an attempt to make a rhetorical point:

Has the Stealth bomber justified its staggering cost? Has the nuclear submarine, Polaris missile, Titan missile, not to mention Star Wars? Most of these weapons haven’t seen the slightest use (emphasis mine). Billions of dollars have been spent on a defense system that is protecting us from a foe who long ago neutralized its threat.

Sorry Mr. Chopra but the intended effect of your rhetoric was lost on me. In actual fact, the success of all of these weapons is measured in their lack of use and as you aptly mentioned they haven’t been used much.

As for the neutralization of Russia, if you or any other person thinks they are no longer capable of posing a threat, I have a piece of dry land in south Florida I would like to sell you or a maybe a warm sunny beach in the Arctic. And since when was Russia the only threat? Do you read the papers? Are you aware of what is happening in the world?

He also questions the moral character of US policy when he refers to:

“The moral question of the fear we inspire internationally by our aggressive militancy, which is tragically at odds with our pronounced aim of world peace.”

“Fear”, Mr. Chopra? You think the world is afraid of us? The terrorists that spew venom everywhere, even on American soil, are running in fear? I don’t think so.

Some definitely hate America and there are some that disagree with us, vehemently, but fear really isn’t a factor accept for those – like China – who wish to impose their will on our friends – like India (your home country) and in this case “fear” would more accurately be defined as “respect.”

By the way, the last I checked, there are a large number of nations that hate India and disagree with her vehemently also. Do you recommend they throw away their bullets? Maybe if they meditate…..

Aside from making illogical suggestions Mr. Chopra also makes unsubstantiated claims. According to him:

America leads the world in arms dealing, starting wars, and developing new methods of mechanized death.

Suffering through his many accusations and misleading remarks leaves you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for what he recommends as the answer. He did manage to drop a hint.

‘Peace,’ he says, ‘is achieved by being peaceful…Having tried militarism for the past 60 years, perhaps we can give peace a chance…’

Obviously he isn’t very clear or original and reading this makes you wonder why he immigrated to America in the first place, right in the middle of our militaristic era (1968). It wasn’t his appreciation of the US Constitution and the individual freedoms it upholds or his respect for the shed blood which made it possible. It wasn’t our history of being the land of the free and home of the brave not too mention the defender of the defenseless.

No, he came to America because, then and now, it represents the most viable market on the planet. Being somewhat vacuous philosophically over the past half century makes Americans susceptible to all kinds of strange ideas and it really helps when recent administrations make notoriously silly international decisions. Mr. Chopra has sold a lot of books.

Unfortunately, Mr. Chopra, there is a thread of truth to your accusations. We readily admit that, in our superpower ways, we don’t get it right every time and we are dealing with some very difficult situations internationally.

But, since several of the nations we are trying to help are neighbors of your home country and since your ideas haven’t done much to establish peace in those regions either, don’t take it personally if we don’t follow your advice entirely.

You can, however, continue to speak your mind. Many Americans fought and died to legalize that right, so help yourself.

This post comes a little bit late. Mr. Chopra wrote in July of 2009 but the issues will be relevant for a while to come.

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