THE American presidential election race is drawing to a close. I suspect I’m not the only Canadian anxious to know how the winner will deal with Iraq.
The war has raised world oil prices to unprecedented highs. It has destabilized countries around the world as terrorists use it to rally support for extremist causes.
One little known effect of the war has been its impact on rural communities. A study by sociologist Robert Cushing reveals the odd fact that soldiers and Marines from rural areas are dying at twice the rate of troops from cities and suburbs.
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The reason turns out to be quite simple. Rural young people are enlisting at twice the rate of those from urban areas. In fact half of today’s all-volunteer U.S. military comes from the rural south.
The war seems to have become a way out of poverty or dying communities for many. Enlistees can accumulate more than $19,000 during a four-year enlistment and become eligible for another $30,000 in scholarships.
Apparently rural America is desperate enough to sell its children for a way out of poverty. These young people and their families are praised for the “sacrifice” that they are making.
But look at how that plays out. Societies have been sacrificing selected members for thousands of years – to appease the gods, to fight their wars. But it’s not often that the wealthy, the powerful or the well-educated are among the chosen or the volunteers. If it is such an honour, one would think they would be lining up to take their turn.
The truth is, these folks benefit from the sacrifices, but they rarely make them.
In fact, the praise lavished on those who sacrifice themselves is a screen for the fact that some members of society are regarded as expendable.
“It is better that one man die for the people than that the whole society perish,” was how one biblical religious leader expressed the philosophy. In his eyes, Jesus was expendable, like so many before and after him.
I hear that theme echoed in rural Canada. We seem to be OK with the idea that it’s all right to sacrifice a few (more than a few) members of our rural communities if it leaves enough land for the large landowners who remain to make a living. Seems like a noble thing.
But it’s depopulating our communities. And the people who stay aren’t being done any favours. They no longer have neighbours, hospitals, curling rinks, schools or mates for their children to marry.
I believe that no one is expendable. Not rural folks in general, not the beef producers in particular, or the over-extended grain farmers, the small town folks or their families. It is not OK to sacrifice the health of small communities for the “greater good” of cities nearby. It is not OK to force people off the land to keep raw food costs down for processors and urban consumers.
Economies are meant to serve the good of communities. Sacrificing people to serve the economic interests of a few, or even the majority, is immoral.
Cam Harder is associate professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Western Producer.
