Saturday, May 19, 2007

The weapons industry: With the world already overstocked with misery, why keep manufacturing more?

With all the millions and millions of people in this world who are hurting and dying, why does the one of world's largest industries keep manufacturing a product whose only goal is to make sure that even MORE people are hurting and dying? What's the point?

It seems to me that deliberately manufacturing even more ways to create misery in this world is a bad business practice. Get a clue! The misery market has already been overstocked and swamped. What about the law of supply and demand? Doesn't anyone read Adam freaking SMITH any more? There is more than enough misery in this world to go around already as it is. Why deliberately go out and manufacture cluster bombs, depleted uranium ammunition, nuclear weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, suicide belts and improvised explosive devices? Why bother? It just doesn't make sense -- when we already have our warehouses and stockyards and supply depots bulging to the seams with all KINDS of high-quality misery-producers like starvation, drought, famine, global warming and AIDS.

The misery market is already glutted! Get a clue!

Just look at Iraq, Dafur, Afghanistan and Palestine. You can find misery on every corner -- and it's for sale at bargain prices that you wouldn't believe. Guys! Enough already. It's time to DIVERSIFY.

My suggestion? There's still an wide-open market in other areas. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor. There's still a tremendous shortage of healthcare, education, food, medicine, housing, etc. -- and a very high demand. Let's move our production capabilities over to THIS almost untouched consumer market -- one that hasn't already been saturated.

And here's another suggestion. Let's recommend to the weapons industry that they have just one more big sale -- a GOING-OUT-OF-BUSINESS sale. I know a guy here in Berkeley who will buy off your weapons, melt them down and cast their metal into sculptures. It's time to recycle our arms -- while we still have any arms -- and legs, fingers and toes -- left to recycle.

And here's a word to the women. "Ladies, do your sons, husbands, fathers and/or significant others lack enough business acumen and self-control to stop manufacturing a product that no one needs any more? Then perhaps it is time for you to take away their credit cards -- and even lay them off -- until they stop their obsession with manufacturing misery, come to their senses and go into a more productive line of work.