Blog Post #6

The Progressive Era

The role of dissent concerning war was highly prevalent during the Progressive Era. Many antiwar voices were being silenced, sentenced to jail, and even condemned to death. Just having these opinions in the first place was enough to be punished. 

This makes me think of the present day. War is at an all time high currently between Russia and Ukraine. President Biden has given a large amount of defense materials to Ukraine to help aid against Russia. With war comes extreme debt, then recession. The cost of a war America is not even part of is contributing to our debt of around $33 trillion. 

After exploring the two websites, I have gotten a clear view of anti-war voices. However, it is crazy how I have never even heard of the anti-war perspectives being clearly expressed online. This is since they rarely, if ever, get to be displayed on the mainstream news. 

The Biden administration has stated that using the money from taxpayers' to aid in these foreign wars, will actually make America rich. I agree with author Doug Bandow in that America should not be donating military arms, if our security is not in danger. This is contributing to the major amount of debt that we have accumulated. Why add more, for a war that America is not even a part of? 

This is not the first time a President has encouraged creating more jobs that included killing civilians. Donald Trump's last administration advised for this to occur. Therefore, this is not new for a President to prioritize waging military operations. 

After looking for more anti-war voices, I discovered an article dating back to 2021. It concerned Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan. The authors brought up an interesting point that the media comes up with a narrative. Any other perspective that goes against this narrative is completely hidden, or "shut out." These voices, who are going against the mainstream narrative, are in turn not being heard. Especially, if they are criticizing the President who is running these operations. If you want to find these opinions, you certainly have to look for them. This is a shame as it is not more exposed to the public. 

The comment section under that antiwar article was very interesting. One comment by Kate McMullan regarded the column saying, "They should be required reading for all Americans." This was eye-opening in the fact that individuals should be open to exploring other perspectives. Even if they do not align with their own.