The power structure in America has a deep investment in keeping people afraid and begging for protection. We accept that roughly half our federal budget disappears into military-related spending or the interest on debts from previous wars. It’s branded as “defense” spending, as if we live in a constant state of imminent invasion and must outspend the rest of the planet just to sleep at night. When we actually do go to war—like in Iraq and Afghanistan—we rack up debts our grandchildren will still be paying off, with little to show for it besides flag-draped coffins and new veterans’ hospitals. At home, we tolerate police forces that look and act more like occupying armies. Officers enjoy near immunity for taking civilian lives, especially minority lives. All it takes is the phrase “I feared for my life,” and the system usually nods and moves on. We build prisons with money that could have gone to schools. Politicians—these days mostly Republicans—inflate crime statistics to scare…
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