Note: Later I will post the creative and wonderful story in 2012, of how Israelis and Iranians are using some same ideas as below. People come to same conclusions.
Below is (1 of 3) Find Alternatives to the Killing Ways
(2 of 3) Non-violent resistance versus killing war – Checkpoint Charlie – Compliance
(3rd of 3) Gandhi and the wearing of white. Crash course in non-violent resistance.
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(1) Introduction
You don’t truly KNOW something in your bones until you DO it.
Do you believe that when you’re in a tight spot, if you look around, the solutions are there? Do you believe that “you are never given a task that is more than you are capable of doing”?
Be hard on yourself.
If you REALLY believe the statement, then you KNOW that George Bush’s war with Iraq is not inevitable.
Look around. There are teacher-angels. Gandhi taught us non-violent resistance. Bill Gates gave us “business at the speed of thought” – rapid communications to thousands. Oprah Winfrey on her television show is teaching empowerment to millions of people, women in particular.
Look at the history of war. War, “a contest or conflict”. Hand-to-hand combat. Mounted on horses. Bows and arrows. Guns. Cannons. Poison gas. Atomic bombs. Nuclear devices. Chemical warfare. Napoleonic wars, World War 1, World War 2, Kuwait, Afghanistan …
Aaah, but how one-sided the view is!! That history comes from the vested powers. Seldom are we reminded of the triumphant history of wars won by empowered ordinary citizens who prevailed over the vested powers:
– Gandhi and his march of defiance which asserted that India would be run for the benefit of Indians, not the colonial power. That was a war as great as any. What was the ammunition and the weapon?
– the people in East Germany who gathered on Sunday mornings in village squares, all wearing a white shirt. They formed a circle and held hands. The movement spread quickly from town-to-town and bamboozled the guns of the East German military establishment, who understood it was an act of defiance, but were powerless: how would they be able to explain the gunning down of people for standing in a circle and holding hands?!
We are seldom reminded that the “Iron Curtain”, the Berlin Wall came down through non-violent resistance. That was a feat as great as Gandhi’s. There was no massive loss of life. What was the ammunition and the weapon?
– it took a war inside America to get the United States out of the Viet Nam war. It was a long and hard battle, but once again, victory was achieved without large-scale bloodshed in that internal conflict. It was ordinary people in the communities of America that stopped the Pentagon. Have we forgotten that? What was the ammunition and the weapon?
– Martin Luther King Junior, a general who led masses to over-power a culture that was killing.
So why, if we know that we have power, is there a real danger of war with Iraq?
Some important factors:
1) we have forgotten our history, or accepted the slanted history.
2) we allow the fear that is spread by the mainstream media to paralyze us into inaction.
3) we have adapted to, or normalized killing and violence. The truth: it is not normal to kill.
4) we have not clearly defined what we want. … Do we WANT our children, or the kids of friends in the United States to go to war? (It will be our children, not us, that go to war.)
5) There will be more killing wars on the North American continent if we allow Bush to have his way. Is that what we want?
6) a failure to exercise our creative abilities, a lack of vision, a vision of how we can overcome without killing. Through the power that we have, and non-violent resistance we can join hands with the Iraquis who don’t want their children killed either.
7) a failure to assume responsibility. This is the most damning statement of all: we will allow other people to make a decision to send our children to a war that will have bad consequences for the kids who fight the war (they ARE only kids) and for the environment. But we adults won’t fight the fight that is required to over-ride the decision-makers, who are wrong. If there are any intelligent people in the world’s mightiest country, they can find methods that equal the brilliance of war heroes like Gandhi and Martin Luther King who can win a war without killing. Multi-dimensional
thinking is required, thinking out-of-the-box.
8) we don’t really KNOW our power.
9) we don’t actually believe that our God(s)(the Life Force / Divine Being) show the way – that we are never given a task greater than we are able to handle.
10) lack of courage “.. all our cowardice and servility”
11) failure of consciousness – we sit with our heads down, toiling away, engrossed. It is necessary to step back from time-to-time and look about. There’s some pretty serious stuff happening. Like it or not, you will be affected – so maybe you had better think on it for a while.
12) If you knew how little effort it really takes, you would rise to the occasion. It’s very little that is asked of you, in comparison with earlier “wars” where people went off, suffered immeasurably so that we might enjoy the lives we have today. “To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high. …” Oops! are we going to drop it, or worse, simply turn our heads away? … what do you have to do? You’ve already taken the first step! Gotcha! “Being aware”, being conscious, is a very important contribution.
13) failure to recognize, and to define the “enemy”: the people and companies that BENEFIT from war. They are the real enemy because they are the ones that will make war happen. Are you content to be a pawn? The terrorists are included in this “enemy”.
14) failure to reach out, to establish connections with those who won’t benefit from war. If we don’t want a war, there doesn’t have to be a war. This is about peace and common sense. A pre-emptive strike is required: it is foolish to sit back, let George Bush start a war, and then have to
work to stop it (it took 10 years to stop Viet Nam – prevention is always cheaper!). A sane or intelligent person will simply strike first, now.
So you want to know, what DID the demonstration project (Chemical/Pharmaceutical/Genetic Engineering project) demonstrate?
Brief description:
PREMISE: – there are many people, in many different organizations, in many different countries, working on many different issues, that are all actually working toward the same end. If we IDENTIFY who those people are, then draw together the efforts of those diverse people, we will have an almighty army!
– looks like war, we’re in a tight spot … what have the God(s) given us? … web-sites and email are the obvious “tool” to get us out of the tight spot.
DEMO PROJECT SHOWED:
– it is possible, in just ONE DAY, for JUST ONE person (I was able to do this) . . connect with thousands of people who would like to work together. The people connected together IN ONE NIGHT BY ONE PERSON are in India, Japan, Australia, the U.K., Brazil, the United States
and Canada. (I went through the Utne magazine and contacted likely-looking candidates, organizations. It’s not hard to do.)
– Goliath ALWAYS has a weak spot, an Achilles Heel. Study the enemy and understand the weakness. Using the Demo Project example of Monsanto (chemical producer, genetic engineering company) which is in the Chem/Pharm/Genetic Engineering sector of the stock market, there is a structural weakness which you aim at.
The ammunition is information (“this is what is happening in this sector of the stock market, it’s going to suffer a melt-down”). The weapon used to fire the ammunition is email. You fire at the structural weakness which (in the demo) is a concentration of “investing power”, the result of the evolution of pension funds and mutual funds. (instead of millions of small investors which would be impossible to reach, we have a relatively small number of people who control huge amounts of investment money – target them. If the information is compelling enough to convince the large institutional investors to disinvest from the sector, serious damage will be inflicted on a company like Monsanto. It’s share price will go way
down. … You see: We are far from powerless. That’s the point.)
Now, apply what we have learned to the idea of war with Iraq. Assuming we don’t want a war, that we want the Government to find a more creative way of dealing with the situation:
1) White is the color of peace, the dove the symbol. See (3rd of 3) “Gandhi and the wearing of white“. Like the “white shirts” used in East Germany, endeavor to wear white as much as you can. Look for a dove to wear. You will recognize fellow warriors through these two signs. Let the politicians look out and see only people dressed in white.
2) We have inherited 2 battle hymns: “We shall overcome / We shall live in peace (today)”. Also, John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
Use them.
3) Fill your thoughts and imagination with the knowledge that there WILL be peace, that we have the power to make it happen.
4) It is important that we inspire each other by sharing what we are doing or what we see.
5) The mainstream media is a powerful tool of the war-mongers. It spreads fear, a form of manipulation. Take power away by using email networks to report on all the “peace initiatives” and stories that the mainstream media ignores. (I will soon send to you the story of the “Warriors of Light”, a group that is operating in Iraq. We can learn from them and be inspired.)
6) Continue your local battles against things that are not “right”. You gain in strength, become empowered by using and testing your muscles. These are very important SYMBOLIC VICTORIES over the forces (governments that refuse to regulate or act in the interests of citizens, and multi-national companies that are without integrity) that are wreaking havoc on this planet.
7) If there will be TV cameras at a public event, be there and wear your white shirt. Sing.
8) Most important: identify and connect with groups that will be responsive to this initiative – who are the “stakeholders”? The beginning list compiled through the Demo Project appears below (Find – it is not below). Obvious additions are organizations that work to create a better world
for children, empowered women’s groups and churches. Contact them.
9) Take a stand and communicate it to your politicians:
we will not participate in a killing war. We WILL participate in direct citizen-to-citizen (Canadian to Iraqui in my case) initiatives.
10) The next section is about non-violent resistance. Become familiar with it.
11) This is an issue about the health of our democracy. This initiative is an exercise in strengthening democracy. Go to the page (button at top) “About the Network“.
PREVENT WAR THROUGH PRE-EMPTIVE ACTION TODAY.