How much is war worth? At what price jobs?
These days, "job creation" or "saving jobs" is used to justify all sorts of destructive activity.
Those in Wisconsin who do not support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and those of us who do not support war at all, now must watch as $85 million of public money may well be spent to support the wages of war.
Gov. Jim Doyle has announced the state will provide $50 million to shipbuilder Marinette Marine if it wins a Navy contract to build high-speed combat ships and agrees to state incentives. This comes after Doyle said last August that Oshkosh Corp. will receive $35 million from the state of Wisconsin after the corporation won a big contract to build combat trucks for the Army.
$250,000 of the $50 million of state aid will come from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College to provide an "on-site training facility" for the shipbuilder. Surely there is a better, more humane way to spend scarce education dollars.
Gov. Doyle reportedly said, "It's like bringing a big auto plant to the state of Wisconsin." Well, cars do kill lots of people but usually not on purpose. Military ships and trucks will be used in foreign wars, and if our current and former foreign wars are any indication, they will be an awful waste of lives and money.
If a private corporation wishes to be in the business of war or environmental destruction, it is free to do so as far as it is legal, and free to employ as many people as conscience will permit. But I, for one, object to state money being used to subsidize such corporations and such jobs.