It Will Take a Movement to Stop the F-35<\/p>\n
by Matthew Andrews
\nVermont is a rural state, mostly known for its cheese, ice cream, and
\nwinter skiing. It’s also widely regarded as one of the most liberal
\nstates in the country. But like the rest of the United States, Vermont’s
\neconomy is heavily driven by military spending. Even in Vermont, money
\ntalks. So when the Air Force proposed stationing their new F-35 war
\nplanes at Burlington Airport, politicians lined up to support it and the
\ncommunity has been deeply divided.<\/p>\n
The Burlington Airport in Vermont buttresses the state’s most populated
\ntowns. It currently hosts the State’s National Guard and F-16 airplanes.
\nDespite having no enemies to fight, these war planes engage in training
\nexercises on a daily basis. The noise they generate is more than a
\nnuisance. An estimated 200 homes have been abandoned since 2008 in the
\nsurrounding communities of South Burlington, Winooski, and Williston.
\nThe new F-35 war planes will be four times louder. This noise would make
\n3,400 homes \u201cnot suitable for residential use\u201d according to the Air
\nForce’s own analysis. We should not be surprised that the same
\ngovernment that builds such deadly weapons is also willing to callously
\ndisplace our communities.<\/p>\n
A lively resistance has sprung up within the affected communities. A
\nvariety of tactics are being used to educate the public of the impact
\nthese war planes would have, to lobby the air force and politicians to
\nreconsider, and take legal action. This past July, several hundred
\npeople rallied and marched to voice popular opposition to the proposed
\nproject. While many local community members worried about the health
\naffects of noise exposure, and the impact on property values, there was
\nalso a vocal contingent led at least in part by the International
\nSocialist Organization and members of Occupy to oppose the F-35 from an
\nanti-war position. The march visited the offices of the entire Vermont
\ncongressional delegation – one by one – to shame them and challenge
\ntheir support. Demonstrators also called on Burlington’s City Council,
\nwhich owns the land, to exercise their power to reject the project.<\/p>\n
This burgeoning community struggle must expand with the support of
\nallies throughout the state and country to avoid being steam-rolled by
\nthe Military-Congressional-Industrial Complex and its local surrogates.
\nIndeed, the entire congressional delegation from Vermont, as well as the
\ngovernor, and mayor of Burlington have lined up to support the project.
\nThey have said the F-35 is inevitable. Even the nominally independent
\nSenator Bernie Sanders has said on Vermont Public Radio that the F-35s
\nare going to be built anyway, so Vermont ought to host them in order to
\ncreate jobs. Sanders says they are necessary for the Vermont Guard to
\ncontinue its mission. Vermont politicians are happy to pose as
\nprogressives in order to please a liberal constituency, yet too often we
\nfail to challenge them when they help themselves to slice after slice of
\nthe bloated war budget.<\/p>\n
The F-35 is the Pentagon’s most expensive project. The New York Times
\nreports that they intend to spend as much as $396 billion to buy 2,456
\nof the F-35 war planes by the late 2030s. Massive projects like this
\nwill not be stopped by small communities surrounding airports. These
\ncommunities, however, may be the leading edge of a revived peace
\nmovement if they tap into popular dissatisfaction over government waste,
\na lagging economy, and senseless warfare.<\/p>\n
The anti-war movement sprang into high gear when it looked like Obama
\nwas going to bomb Syria. But we also need to engage the slow movement
\nbuilding struggles that connect our more abstract anti-war ideals to
\nreal policy decisions being made at home. For those of us outside the
\nimpact zone, this is our best opportunity to take a bite out war
\nhysteria, interventionism, and the tax-funded war economy.<\/p>\n
The mantra of job creation is trumpeted to silence debate over the
\nwisdom of having a war economy. We should remind those who are swayed by
\nthis argument why we want jobs in the first place. Jobs allow people to
\nraise their standard of living and spend money locally, subsequently
\nbenefiting the local economy. This can be accomplished by any program
\nthat spends in a particular community. The second benefit of job
\ncreation is that workers produce goods and services that contribute to a
\nhigher standard of living. Military spending fails on both counts. It’s
\nhard to dispute that little of our military spending has anything to do
\nwith keeping us safe. But even on the matter of job creation itself,
\nmilitary spending measures up the worst among possible options according
\nto a recent report from the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI)
\nat the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. According to 2009
\nnumbers, PERI found that $1 billion spent by the military creates 11,200
\njobs, versus 16,800 by clean energy development, 17,200 by health care,
\nor 26,700 by public education. Even increasing consumer demand through
\ntax cuts would lead to 35% more job creation than military spending.
\nDespite the public rhetoric about job creation and security, the
\npowerful forces have their own motivations for basing the F-35 in
\nVermont. Following the money trail gives us a much more accurate
\nunderstanding of the real motivations. If the project moves forward,
\ndevelopers may be the biggest winners. The City of Burlington already
\nreceived a $40 million Federal grant to buy out local residents affected
\nby the F-16. This program must multiply to make way for the louder F-35.
\nWhile this land may be ruled unsuitable for residential use by the FAA,
\nit can still be zoned for commercial and industrial use. The Boston
\nGlobe cites an unnamed Pentagon official who says that the
\nbase-selection process was deliberately “fudged” by military brass so
\nthat Leahy’s home state would win.<\/p>\n
The next confrontation over this debate will be Monday, October 7th at
\nthe Burlington City Council. Four Progressive Party members will propose
\na resolution to oppose the F-35. As the land owner, the Burlington City
\nCouncil could prohibit their tenant, the Air National Guard, from
\noperating the war planes. The other members of the 14 member council
\nhowever have not yet broken ranks with the project and its boosters,
\nincluding Mayor Miro Weinberger and groups like the Greater Burlington
\nIndustrial Corporation.<\/p>\n
We can expect most of the debate on October 7th to be about the risks
\nposed to the 1443 homes in the crash zone, or the 3410 residential units
\nprojected to be caught in the high-noise contours of the jets. These
\nliabilities could have a direct financial impact on the city, which
\nseems to be the only consideration these politicians are ready to
\nconsider.<\/p>\n
Groups like the ISO, Occupy, the Progressive Party, and Liberty Union
\nParty are beginning to challenge the militaristic perspective of our
\nelected officials. We do not see a world full of enemies that must be
\ndominated by ever superior military might. The United States needs to
\nquickly convert from an economy that is addicted to war to one that
\nsustains the Earth and the needs of all people. There are more than
\nenough jobs and plenty of security to be found in these more noble
\nexpenditures. The struggle to stop the F-35 in Vermont can only be won
\nif we build a statewide movement to reject it. Furthermore, only a
\nnationwide peace movement has the potential to ensure these planes are
\nnever built and never drop bombs over places like Syria, Yemen, Iraq or
\nAfghanistan. And finally, only an independent political movement can
\npromise to rescue our tax dollars from the war machine and invest them
\nback into our communities.<\/p>\n
The race for superior weaponry has been pursued, and largely
\naccomplished, by the United States government. Not only has it failed to
\nmake us safer from terrorism, but it has led to endless warfare. We have
\nsacrificed the world’s natural resources and beauty, as well as our
\nnation’s blood and treasure, only to enrich a tiny corporate elite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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