102: The Military Industrial Complex

The US military industrial complex describes the relationship between the US armed forces, weapons and military systems corporations and, though they are often omitted from the phrasing, the Legislative and Executive branches of the US government. 

This episode is dedicated to examining the interests at play in maintaining the US military budget as an unquestionable and sacred burden on the US taxpayer and its impact on democracy, even when our national infrastructure is in tatters, education and medical costs are exploding, the gap between rich and poor is ever-widening, wages have stagnated, and a pandemic has ravaged our economy and our lives.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation is the Quaker's Peace Lobby. Allen Hester leads the FCNL's Nuclear Disarmament and Pentagon Spending portfolio. This means that he develops legislative strategies and lobbies Congress for reductions in Pentagon spending, strengthened arms control regimes, and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons.

Revisited: Global Arms Trade

The global arms industry may only account for about one percent of global trade, but it’s important to note what that one percent is buying and the role that arms sales play in influencing other aspects of global trade and political relations. We speak with Frank Slijper in Groningen, The Netherlands, where Frank leads a project on the global arms trade for Pax, a global peace research and advocacy organization.

Here are Frank’s Pax reports on the arms trade in Turkey and the UAE.

This episode was originally published on June 27th, 2020

Episode 28: Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains an enigma to many in the West, and for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s the lack of coverage, the singular focus on violence and poverty, or the silent bigotry that informs many Western attitudes towards the fortunes of Africans more generally. Many of the root causes of human suffering continue to get ignored while aid money pours in, resources pour out, and little changes to improve the lives of the people.

Murhula Zigabe is one example of the many positive stories in the Congo that we don’t hear about much. He’s from the eastern part of the DRC, and by watching Youtube videos managed to find a solution to multiple problems faced by his community, including environmental degradation, unemployment, poverty, lack of education, and autonomy for women. It centers on recycling organic waste into eco-charcoal for cooking. Sound like an unlikely solution? I thought so too until we connected for this episode.

In our conversation we also set his work against the backdrop of the DR Congo’s recent history, in particular the wars of the mid 90’s and early 2000’s that claimed approximately 5 million lives, and the ongoing use of rape as a weapon of war on a scale that sees a woman raped nearly once every minute. However, this conversation is not a catalogue of miseries and grievances. Murhula is an optimist, and perhaps after listening to his story you will be too, and maybe you’ll be inspired to look at the DRC and Africa a little differently.

Check below for more info about Murhula’s projects, and for some helpful videos to learn more about the DRC.

For a quick history lesson…

Murhula’s Website and articles about his work.

Documentary films…

Episode 5: From Syria to Berlin, Part 1 of 2

Aram AlSaed was a paramedic and a student of fine arts before he left Syria in 2015, traveling by bus, plane, boat, and by foot to reach Germany, while stopping along the way to provide medical and translation support for other refugees.

In this first of a two-part interview, I speak with him about life in Syria before the war, when things began to change, his work as a paramedic in Syria, when he realized that it was time for he and his brother to leave, and his journey up to the German border. 

Be sure to browse the additional content provided below for current information on the state of the refugee crisis in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. 

And be sure to catch the second half of the interview in the next episode. 

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