We are deep into the Winter of Our Discontent in what has become (almost overnight) a dystopian landscape that is looking more and more like George Orwell’s vision of the future. Our new president seems to suffer from (among his many maladies) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In his first days in office he has issued executive orders at an unparalleled rate of signing as he makes good on his pre-election pledges to “make America great again;” translation: “lay waste to what is good about America.” Of course, forget about any concern for the health, safety or well-being of all those who will be affected by the President’s sweeping orders (and the Congressional skullduggery of his Republican-controlled Congress). The only thing I haven’t yet seen is a statement pledging to make America’s nuclear weapons great again, although Trump already pledged that he would be “making our military strong again.” Phew – about time!I urge the members of the U.N. Security Council — the body that bears primary responsibility for international peace and security — to take the first step. Specifically, I propose that a Security Council meeting at the level of heads of state adopt a resolution stating that nuclear war is unacceptable and must never be fought.
I think the initiative to adopt such a resolution should come from Donald Trumpand Vladimir Putin — the Presidents of two nations that hold over 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenals and therefore bear a special responsibility.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said that one of the main freedoms is freedom from fear. Today, the burden of fear and the stress of bearing it is felt by millions of people, and the main reason for it is militarism, armed conflicts, the arms race, and the nuclear Sword of Damocles. Ridding the world of this fear means making people freer. This should become a common goal. Many other problems would then be easier to resolve.
The Bulletin called on us, as citizens, to demand a number of concrete measures by our governments. Chief among them was that: “US and Russian leaders return to the negotiating table to seek further reductions in nuclear arms and to limit nuclear modernization programs that threaten to create a new nuclear arms race.The world can be more secure with much, much smaller nuclear arsenals than now exist—if political leaders are truly interested in protecting their citizens from harm.”
At Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action we continue our work resisting Trident and working to abolish nuclear weapons. Although most all of our active members are also active in a wide variety of movements to build a better world, at GZ we stay focused on our original mission. We are tired of living in a Thermonuclear Monarchy, in which one person (El Presidente) has the authority to take the final action, “that will initiate the great festival of destruction” (as Thomas Merton put it). It is high time for the nuclear-armed nations to stop threatening the entire world with genocide, and we (as citizens) must push our (nuclear-armed) nations’ leadership to support the upcoming Unite Nations negotiations on a legally binding nuclear weapons ban.
As both Gorbachev and The Bulletin have reminded us – It is the responsibility of the two nations that hold 93 percent of the world’s 14,900 nuclear weapons – the US and Russia – to lead the way to a world free of nuclear weapons. It is also clear that nuclear weapons do not exist in a vacuum, and that we will not abolish nuclear weapons without creating a major, global paradigm shift away from resolving conflict through violence. Our work is cut out for us, and we must stay focused on the prize – PEACE!
The Mother’s Day Three on Trial in Federal Court on April 12th. Larry Kirschner, Bernie Meyer and Gilberto Perez were arrested by the Navy for “trespassing” during the 2016 Mother’s Day weekend vigil and nonviolent direct action, and will appear for trial in the US District Court, Western District of Washington, Tacoma Courthouse on Wednesday, April 12th at 1:30 PM.
On April 21, 2017, in honor of Earth Day, Ground Zero and allies, featuring Native Americans sisters and brothers, will gather in Seattle to paddle, walk, and speak out against nuclear weapons and the destruction of our planet! Watch for more details coming to the GZ Calendar.
Join the Hibakusha Appeal for a Nuclear Ban Treaty
On October 27, 2016, the UN adopted a landmark resolution to launch negotiations in 2017 on a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons, with 123 nations voting in favour of the resolution, 38 against, and 16 abstaining. The negotiations to negotiate a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” will begin this March. Let’s Join our voices with those of the Hibakusha to support the negotiations and say “Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Never Again.”
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