War, War what's it good for?

You may have been taught free thinking idealist are the problem clear thinking realists have to deal with; harden your reserve, don't listen to left-wing loonies or any of the multitude of saying that have been common-place over the years. Granted your mentor may have been correct on some occasions but looking at the big picture, knowing what we know today, how irresponsible was it to ignore their plea's for sustainable lifestyles. Now I'm not trying to get anyone to drop what works for them, without a realistic argument, just to be open minded; suffer the little children if you will.
My experience has been that idealism leads to persecution, rejection and even isolation from the crowd but still I tap on the door of a mainstream conscience that arbores what lurks outside. Consider me the rat-bag that sensible people have been taught to hate, the dreamer, the eternal optimist everyone can see would be better of forgetting about any alternative ideas and just getting on with it. Give me a moment, focus for a second on the 'fact' that just occasionally an idea comes out of left field that makes sense to everybody. Now and then the group conscience needs a jolt and serious issues need to be faced by all ,because all are affected. How many people do you know who thought global warming was an issue ten years ago? Should the average person who lived in pre WW2 Germany been aware of the consequences of Nazi-fascism? Wouldn't it have been wise to listen to Noah when he said it was going to rain?
My topic may not be taken seriously by some and my ravings, chicken little like by others but never the less I say we are standing on a precipice that is not adequate, on a speeding train and no-one seems to be taking the bridge out signs seriously. It's like an artery has been severed and all any one can do is offer an aspirin and what I would prescribe can not be put in a sentence, it requires in depth analyses. Let's not start from the beginning, that would be to tedious even for me, so where then? An analogy maybe, a parody possibly, a contradiction, O.K.
Supposedly, we all see that war is bad and everybody wants peace. Yet if we had peace there would be no need for weapons of war, no need for F-111's, no bullets or bombs, no aircraft carriers, no Admirals, no grunts, no tanks, no Generals and none of the multitude of factories needed to supply the many associated necessities. Now here's the dilemma, who wants that? Not the people who's jobs would be lost if it was all shut down. Is this style of thinking to radical for you, then what about no greenhouse gasses, no chopping down of trees, no running around in gas guzzlers, no coal fire power stations etc,etc. Who wants that? Not the people whose jobs depend on it!
So where's the answer, do we run around prescribing aspirins or start sticking on band-aids? What happens if the people who don't want to loose their jobs get their way and we all have to pay the price, is that acceptable in your mind? Eventually common sense dictates we come to an answer that solves the problem and here is where the dreamers, visionaries and yes, left wing loonies come into their own. Sometimes the answer is hitting us in the face and we don't want to accept it. We baulk, we back step, we do anything but take the medicine and is that sane? Is that the realistic thinking granddad would have advised rather than listen to the free thinker? Sometimes it is best to bite the bullet and do what has to be done.
Now we are all familiar with the arguments over solar verses nuclear, I could give you my opinion and you could throw in yours but sooner or latter it would end as it always does, in a difference of opinion. Instead I would throw you a curve ball in saying that the answer lay in a different type of thinking where we look at the problems facing mankind as a whole and come up with a complete solution. What if we began to put as much money, time and effort into putting an end to war-mongering as we do into propping it up? What if the same amount of energy and resources were put into sustainable practices as was planet raping ones? What if a computer program could show us how to run a peaceful, prosperous and eternal planet? Would we all sign up or would we still have to deal with the detractors?
Basically the clear thinking people of this planet of ours have been dragging the rest of us towards the sudden stop at the end and if you value your children's future then it's time to put an end to the bullshit and stand up to those who would value their jobs over a possible future. When we look towards the Military Industrialists that have been responsible for so much death and destruction in the past, for answers to our very real problems of today, placing them in the position of saviors of mankind, then we are placing the Abomination of desolation where it should not be.