Middle School Band

Today I remember being at Pearl Harbor, the base in Hawaii that is remembered on Dec. 7th by the invasion of the Japanese. We fought back in the war and retook the Hawaiian Islands and soon made them a state. However, Japan after the war recovered economically and in time took over Hawaii by purchasing land and using it as a vacation spot. Part of Japanese success was the fact that after the war they no longer had to spend money building and maintaining a military force.

Japanese tourists are all over Hawaii and are easily recognizable since all the men wear khaki pants and white shirts with cameras strung around their necks. The day I was at Pearl Harbor a bus load of Japanese tourists arrived and they all made a beeline to the rail overlooking the harbor for a picture-taking session.

America remains the number one power in the world but is now dependent on its military might. The US Department of Defense budget is nearly 800 billion dollars, more than all the military budgets of the rest of the world’s major countries combined. China, a much larger and rapidly developing country, is in second place with a military budget about 1/10 of our budget. Empires based on military might — Rome, Russia, England, Germany — in the past have all ultimately declined. China seems to have learned from history, as Japan did after World War II, and is putting its main resources into development, education, clean energy, manufacturing and other sustainable resources. Military might is a non-sustainable resource.

Tonight I went to my oldest grandson’s winter band concert in his middle school up north. It is a large middle school blessed with a wonderful music department and three bands, 6th, 7th and 8th grade, each band with about 100 youth in it. While Milwaukee public schools deprive more and more children of music in school this middle school thrives.

From my limited experience a country rich in cultural arts, like music, is a rich country. I felt this while in India, Venezuela, and Guatemala. Long before Venezuela became an economic power from oil it was rich in music education for all, even the poorest of the poor. I understand that China, despite the Cultural Revolution, is thriving with culture.

As someone who cannot sing or play an instrument I still can appreciate music. Music, not military, is a universal language we can all share and grow in.

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