The tragic toll and rich rewards of war 

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When I take a shower, I'm usually in a rush, having allocated just enough time to get dried, shaved and dressed before launching my day.

But today, I stood in the shower for probably a good 10 minutes, upping the temperature slightly every minute or so to compensate for the fact that bodies quickly become accustomed to a temperature, which may have, at first, seemed far too hot. You know what I'm talking about—the ouch of sitting down in a hotel hot tub, quickly followed by a frustrated desire to break the lock off the control box and raise the temperature another two or three degrees.

I couldn't help but consider how a hot shower is an amazing luxury. What would it be like to live where bathing always began with the unpleasant, chilling assault of cold. My heart turned to the harsh realities of our world—where billions will live their lifetimes, perhaps having never experienced a warm shower.

For that matter, almost as many don't even have the convenience of running water in their homes—which got me thinking about the millions of people who don't have a home at all. That includes not just the hopelessness of those who huddle in cardboard boxes under highway overpasses, but the millions of refugees stuck in "temporary" holding camps, totally lacking in creature comforts.

Some will spend their lives in such places, and the refugee situation has become so out of control that refugee camps have become multi-generational. It is horrifying to consider that many of those refugees are likely to live and die in places that would be unimaginable to us—all because fear had forced them from their homelands.

During the final moments of my shower, I thought about our Ukrainian brothers and a war that has changed their nation from a modern, advanced and prosperous society into one in which many no longer have the simple conveniences and pleasures of life. In parts of the country, most basic accommodations have disappeared—showers, running water, electricity to keep the food from spoiling, heat to keep home interiors warm. As Russia pounds the country with artillery and rockets, targeting vital infrastructure, Ukrainians have discovered what it is like to live like a third-world country, far from their previously-comfortable, reliable world.

With a madman like Putin at its helm, we can only guess at Russia's next moves. That said, as far-removed outsiders, most Americans don't have an understanding of the complicated relationship between Ukraine and its mother-country. It wasn't like the American colonies—deciding that they shouldn't be ruled by a country on the other side of the ocean. Ukraine had been very much a part of Soviet territory, but that all ended following the 1991 breakup of the USSR.

I'm certainly not advocating for a get-out-of-jail card for Putin, whose megalomania and misplaced ego have put him on a collision course with most of the world. Nothing can excuse his barbaric acts, but his apparent dream of reuniting the failed USSR and making Russia once again a credible and respectable mega-power are the natural inclinations of a man who hates being anything but number one. Ukraine had been both the second-most populous of the 15 former Soviet Republics and the second largest economy in the USSR block, so it's easy to see why Putin would love to have Ukraine back.

Revisiting history, it was American independence that became a model for ending the seemingly infinite era of world colonization, perpetuated mostly by the British Empire and a handful of European nations that had mastered the high seas for economic opportunity and exploitation.

Colonial expansion had gone on for hundreds of years, but today, Brits can no longer claim as they bragged for centuries that the "sun never sets on the British Empire." Other top colonizers had found that being spread too thin was not only unmanageable, but threatened the very futures of their countries.

So much for history lessons. It seems I've departed, just a bit, from the matter of hot water and the ongoing tragedy of the Ukrainian people. For almost a year now, Putin's brutal quest to "retrieve" a lost element of Russia's former greatness has created unimaginable misery, and everyone in our world should be cringing at the ongoing suffering. Some aren't.

Each time a Ukrainian steps into a cold shower; each time a Ukrainian family huddles in a dark home with no remaining source of heat; each time the mourners, in their dark suits and tears, walk along behind the hearse; every time that a mother weeps for her husband or child—somebody is smiling.

After all, there are five U.S. defense contractors—down from over 50 in the 1990s—who have a virtual monopoly on the technology and devices of war. But the non-enforcement of antitrust laws has allowed a dangerous monopoly, one that has amassed enough power and influence to encourage new wars and perpetuate the suffering.

The big five defense companies spent almost $300 million on executive bonuses last year, and every one of those executives had a big smile on his/her face. The share prices for Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman all soared as the sales of missiles, aircraft and guidance systems exploded. It wasn't just Ukraine—all of the EU has been scrambling to increase defense capabilities, understanding that, with a madman like Putin around, nobody is safe.

Last year, 2022, was a bumper crop for the big five. They spent roughly $100 million lobbying our legislators, hawkishly supporting the horrors of war and making sure that the $600 toilet seats—a scandal of the 1980s—continue to be bought and paid for by our military. The insane profits of government contracts still propel the defense industry and it's no mystery that we, the American citizens, are paying a hefty portion of that price tag.

It is a tragic truth that anytime people are being terrorized, killed and displaced, someone is laughing on their way to the bank. The lack of fair competition and a shrinking core of defense companies has made war far too profitable, and thanks to the Citizens United SCOTUS decision, the culpability of these companies in influencing and profiting from wars has largely been buried in silence.

The defense industry and American hawks are smiling. No one else is.

The author is a retired novelist, columnist, and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and the beloved ashes of their mongrel dog