— from Rhea Miller —
Washington State’s Department of Commerce has published a guide called the Growth Management Civilian-Military Compatibility Guide. The Guidebook is part of a master strategy laid out by the consulting group, the Spectrum Group, whose leadership is comprised of retired military, regarding Growth Management issues in WA State. In a Dec 2016 report to the Commerce Department, the Guidebook laid out what is needed to attract more military activity to WA state. The report and follow up work was funded, in part, by a grant from the Department of Defense Department of Economic Adjustment.
This Guidebook impacts communities beyond the actual location of the military base. Military operations may take place anywhere within reach of the base, impacting those communities outside of the actual military base’s location. These communities also need to have a voice regarding these impacts, including much of San Juan, Skagit, Clallam, and Jefferson Counties. To date, most of these communities don’t even know of the existence of this Guide.
Based on this Guide, recent bills introduced to the State legislature, and so far defeated, have been written to put the military in charge of land use planning, overriding any input from citizens about what they want in their communities. There would be no process to hold the military accountable to the citizens for the impact of its operations. There would be no process for resolving incompatibility between military operations and public health, economy or environment. In essence, it would give the military a blank check to determine civilian land use however it sees fit.
Giving up the right of the local governments and their citizens to plan for their needs over to the military to support “present and future”military missions constitutes a seizure of land use rights by the federal government, and is an inverse condemnation of public and private property. Such actions are prohibited by Article 1,Section 18 of the Washington State Constitution, and by the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.
Promotion of the Guidebook will encourage local communities to adopt the processes and recommendations in order to “enhance the desirability of increased military activity, thus adding jobs and improving the local economy.” There is no independent confirmation that this would be true. In fact, an independent economic study from South Whidbey contradicts this statement. Rather this Guidebook actually weakens our local economy by giving military commerce a higher priority than any other kind of commerce in the State. Economies based on agri-tourism, environmental tourism, education, local infrastructures, etc., are actually adversely affected by military expansion. What Washington needs is a sustainable economy based on a variety of jobs including high tech, education, agriculture, tourism, outdoor recreation and small manufacturing.
Let the WA State Department of Commerce and the Office of the Governor know what you think of this Guidebook. We can appreciate and support the military without having to give up our rights as U.S. citizens.
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Perchance is this some imperial hubris directed towards Orca loving left coasters or merely satirical overreach? Washington State needs more military presence like it needs an Ebola outbreak.
Apparently there is no word for ‘sacred’ in the English language.
The information from the State Department of Commerce at your embedded link contradicts most of what you write. In fact, it appears the draft guidebook that you pillory is not due for publishing, in draft, until next year.
Always trying to bridge realists and idealists both Joe and Tony’s words resonate. Suggestion: let reality on the ground dictate when defenders are obviated.
It’s the attitude wherein the hurt and betrayal are most keenly felt. Don’t deny reality. We’re not peaceful enough as a species for a military-free society. That fact is multiplied by a large factor when looking overseas.
Until we are, let us peacefully resist harmful encroachment as we seek compromise. Let us sue for injunctive relief if all else fails and good faith cooperation isn’t forthcoming. Go to congress. Change laws. Hold those accountable who violate the public trust.
But at the end of the day, we need them and the “them” are our extended family who’ve step forward to do the job. Take care not to demonize your brothers and sisters….your own direct and extended offspring.
Rather than feed delusion, wake up and address the poor education that reinforces violence the world over. After all, the military is a necessary product of that failure. It’s clear which came first. Mitigate. Help maintain our military’s professionalism. There are many gradations. Keep ours within a genuine democracy that’s forward thinking.
Resist poor thinking!!!—it’s not anchored in reason and logic—it’s dangerous as it consistently misdiagnoses the challenges before us.
Using essentialisms such as impugning the species as “inherently violent” so to justify a hegemonic militarism is some dicey reasoning. Evolution means that we are malleable beings. Poorly integrated, yes, fixed in determinate positions, no. If some of us can see beyond militarism then all of us can see beyond militarism. . This is not a question of unilateral disarmament but it is a question of accountability.
I like you mind, Joe.
Joe, I agree but sense some anger or impatience.
The Caveats:
1. We’re daily becoming more able to determine our own evolution; thus, education and deep rationality are needed to become truly responsible. We’re not responsible enough to exercise “real” free will without triggering self-destruction; but we can get there—so, yes, our positions aren’t forever fixed or pre-determined as decided by the then reconciler-in-chief of the early Christian faith (5th Century, St Augustine—pre-reformation when “catholic” was just an adjective for universal).
2. Accountability, yes. Hence, I carve out avenues in my first comment above.
3. Timing is everything! We can’t be too far out ahead of the curve even if we can peak out over its horizon and see hope. The goal is to survive until evolution makes many of our understandings axiomatic and given. To get too out in front of the train is to risk being ran over. We evolve slowly. Cultures evolve with little “integration,” globally. Belief systems are still the predominant constructs for human survival for 80-90% of the world’s pop. Dependency and a deficiency in self-reliance remain the chief personality traits, still, for most of the world’s inhabitants. Ignorance is rifest among them all.
I speak of pace. Acknowledge our continued need for defense and pay respect because it is a sacrifice. We play for time.
Knowing the goal isn’t the same as reaching it.
Btw, Reason dissolves anger.
“Nobody is stealing your jobs, America. You spend too much on wars”. Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group
…yes, as China exponentially increases their military budget (the published one), militarizes the South China Sea, does biz indiscriminately w/ int’l hooligans without blushing (we blush), executes internal dissension without due process, and negates an independent media. Let’s not mention they can’t vote. It’s ridiculous to take serious any self-serving statements by those who, if they dare criticize their own ruthless soviet-style thug oligarchy, would never be heard from again. China’s lack of explanations not only fail to embarrass, but serve as a point of pride in holding amoral attitudes toward excess so long as it’s external to their country. A sterile state mercantilism at work that has no internal ethical restraints in place to regulate the use of technology from monitoring and tagging their citizenry like cattle while they edit at will the human genome. Yes, we breathlessly await advice from China’s corporate statecraft.
None of this excuses deserved criticism at home where and when it’s due—never a shortage of this I’m pleased to say—but to intimate a moral equivalency validates my constant refrain about the dangers of poor education and thinking.
Q: do we need a sophisticated military at this stage of our evolution? If yes, get on board and ensure it’s prof’l and accountable.
Q: can we build a military-free world? Go for it!
The wise survive (& prosper) b/c they ground-truth their ideas in empirical reality and build thereon.
So that we not simply resign ourselves to being backed into a corner justifying more and more military (though plenty of rationale exists for maintaining a sophisticated, modern, dynamic force), we should embark aggressively on a parallel path towards de-escalation of war and violence on every front with equal the resources employed for defense.
In addition, given the breathtaking leaps in bio-technology and genetics made roughly every 6-months, the The Five Eye countries along with Japan and continental Europe should dedicate as a top priority the establishment of global standards via treaty or similar mechanism (to include serious repercussions for violators) so that the global community steers said advances. How successful this will be is dubious but there needs to be both the effort made and ethical efficacy in place to guide expected behavior and acceptable applications of these amazing Scientific inroads; almost everyone’s deeply concerned about these advances such that they’d rather not even know about them.