Does Our Independence Still Serve Us? Is It Time To Rethink It?

Have you ever wondered why you don’t see more policewomen? For that matter, how many small policemen do you come across? If someone were inclined to pick a fight with somebody, how much more likely would he be to do so with someone small as opposed to, say, a linebacker with the Dallas Cowboys? I had a chat with a policewoman, and asked her if she felt that her job was more difficult because she was a woman, and because she was relatively small. She answered that she felt that those two factors certainly made her professional life more difficult.
What is my point? Where am I going with this? We are living in a rapidly changing world, and to the degree to which we anticipate what lies ahead and prepare is the degree to which we are less likely to be blindsided by those changes.
In a few days we will be celebrating Independence Day. Rather than approach it in the normal, “rah, rah, isn’t it great to be out from under the King’s thumb, I’d like again to come at it from the opposite angle. Yes, throwing off the King, and in so doing, breaking away from Great Britain, Canada, and the whole British Commonwealth was a valuable and necessary thing in 1776, but what does that mean to us now, over two centuries later? I bet very few of us will even give that break-away any thought this July 4, and even fewer will say, “I’m so glad that we are no longer under British royalty.”
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My wife asked me, do you think there
is another huge war coming some day?
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Back to this changing world; my wife asked me the other day, “Do you think there is another huge war coming some day?” I told her that my concern is that China continues to increase its military budget around 10 percent annually, and is becoming increasingly bellicose toward its neighbors and us. Its economy is growing a lot faster than ours, and it has 1 billion more people than we do, 1.3 billion to our 0.3 billion.
We had thought that by helping to make China a strong trading partner, we could help it thrive as the West does, and in so doing, help insure world peace; it is not working out that way. Instead, we have assisted in creating a monstrous and formidable adversary. Unless its direction changes dramatically, the storm clouds gathering in the eastern sky are indeed foreboding.
If a stitch in time saves nine, what stitches (actions) can we take now to avoid conflict down the road nine times more costly? Let me return to the beginning. The little policewoman’s gun may be as deadly as the linebacker’s, but if the foe doesn’t view it that way, he picks the fight which he otherwise may not have.
We have military alliances with other nations, but is their appearance formidable? Czechoslovakia had a mutual defense treaty with Great Britain, but when Hitler rattled his sword, Britain lost courage and did not honor that commitment.
Further, according to a June 10, 2015 Pew Research Center report, “…at least half in Germany, France and Italy are unwilling to use military force to defend other NATO allies against Russian aggression.” This is despite that “In Article 5 of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty that created NATO, member states ‘agree that an armed attack against one or more of them … shall be considered an attack against them all’….But in the face of Russian activities in Ukraine, not all NATO-member publics are willing to live up to their Article 5 obligation.”
When Hawaii was attacked by Japan, there was no question what would happen; the U.S. defended itself, because Hawaii was and is part of the U.S.
If the U.S. is to avoid a potential conflict with China, we should give serious consideration to reestablishing our former bonds with the British Commonwealth. In war, the enemy seeks to divide and conquer. We already divided ourselves. Dare we run the risk of remaining divided?
Art Hall
From the Bible
I am Wisdom. I live with Good Judgment. I am at home with Knowledge and Planning. From Proverbs 8