JFK's vision for peace

Sun 11 Jun 2023, 6:14 am

I thought I'd post this here, on the 60th anniversary of JFK's speech at American University laying out his vision for a lasting peace. I also posted it on EF.

It fleshes out some of the things I have said here.

Until I started writing it I hadn't realized what should be obvious. China, Russia, India and other non-Western countries, making up more than 70% of the world's population, are right now busy at work creating a multipolar world order. Replacing the US hegemon. JFK's vision come to life at last:

The essence of JFK's peace speech can be found in this passage: “What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war but the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living… that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children—not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women—not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.”

This was a direct challenge to the war machine. A Pax Americana enforced by American weapons of war precisely expresses what they *did* want. You don't understand anything about the importance of the JFKA without understanding this basic conflict within the White House.

A few decades later with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Pax Americana became official policy, per Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz, now called the international "rules based order" (rules made by the US) designed to ensure American hegemony. Every effort was to be made to prevent a challenge to US "authority" by another country.

That was 30 years ago. The rules based order and its twin idea of "American exceptionalism" are now crumbling before our eyes. In one sense the partnership of China and Russia, and BRICS and the more than 20 countries that want to join it, are now, on the 60th anniversary of the speech, taking up the gauntlet laid down by JFK to fashion a multipolar, peaceful world order. To end the economic and military dominance of the US. To end the dominance of the dollar in world trade. To replace war with peaceful interaction.

All that is missing is a voice in the US to support JFK's vision of peace. Enter Bobby Jr. The peace candidate lane to the presidency is wide open. With his understanding of the issues and what happened to his father and uncle, he is uniquely qualified to fill it.

As we get closer to the election, the need for a discussion about a more peaceful world will become more apparent. It all begins with JFK's vision of peace and the murders and wars that followed the silencing of the Kennedy brothers.