Moral and ethical issues facing our society and culture

To the editor:
    March 19th will mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. As of the end of 2007 those of us living here in U.S. Congressional District 2 have contributed $536.2 million to the war effort. While we can laud ourselves for our contribution to the national effort, we have to look at the other costs associated with it.  According to the National Priorities Project (www.nationalpriorities.org), an organization that since 1983 “analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent”, that same money could have provided 140,730 people with health care, or — important here in northern Maine — 823,235 homes with renewable electricity.
    Governmental budgets are moral documents that show a state’s or country’s moral well being. The question is not do we want to spend the $536.2 million on providing health care, developing renewable energy resources and promoting their use, or providing safe affordable child care to working low income families. That is not the question because we have already spent the money. The question is one of priority. Where do we place our moral and ethical values? From my observation, our country sorely lacks priorities exhibiting sound moral, ethical and family values. My 4-year-old granddaughter will end up paying the debt for this war throughout her working life — yours will also.
    We cannot leave Iraq in the state of chaos that it is now in, that would also be immoral and unethical. We broke it so we own it. But we cannot afford to keep paying the exorbitant cost in money and lives we are now paying. We all have our own ideas on what must be done. It is our responsibility to not keep these ideas to ourselves, but to keep our governmental representatives informed. We must speak out and create a national conversation on what we wish our moral and ethical priorities to be. I have to thank my conservative brothers and sisters for being very vocal over the past twenty years. Although I do not always agree with their perspectives, I really appreciate their efforts to keep the conversation alive. What has been lacking in this conversation are the voices of moderates, liberals and progressives. We have not upheld our part of the conversation so we now find ourselves in this present state of affairs — a ballooning federal deficit, severe reductions in services to the most fragile, and an economy that is about to tank.
    The economy and the expenditures for the Iraq War are part and parcel of the same issue. We cannot hope to rebuild our economy while at the same time exporting dollars out of the country for $100 per barrel crude oil, to support a weary military in a country that shows no signs of coalescing into a unified state, and continue tax breaks to companies that export jobs and import consumer goods.
    To the purpose of developing a national conversation, Every Village Green in conjunction with numerous veterans groups and peace organizations in the state is sponsoring rallies and events through out the state on March 15th. In Aroostook there will be one event. A Peace Action will take place at the Caribou Unitarian Universalist Church from 1 to 4 pm that will include a Service for Peace with the opportunity to raise up the names of men and women affected by or killed by the war, followed by a silent vigil on Bennett Drive. Regardless of our stances on other social issues, I think I can safely say we want to be able to live in peace, pay our bills and live in a just society. I urge every county resident to attend the event in Caribou. More information can be had at www.everyvillage-me.us or by contacting me at community@caribouuu.org.