#NoWar2016 was a series of panels and workshops, plus an awards ceremony and a protest action. The conference was sold out and universally praised in high terms. Various action plans came out of the workshops and other discussions at the conference. You can get the book that the conference was arranged around. You can get the DVD of this video:
#NoWar2016 was held in Washington, D.C., on September 23rd to 26th. Thanks to American University for hosting. Thanks to TheRealNews.com for livestreaming and recording video on the 23rd and 24th. These were the speakers. This was the agenda:
Friday, September 23
Washington, D.C., American University, School of International Studies, Founders Room
12:00 p.m. ET Strategies to End War:
MC: Leah Bolger
Speakers:
1. Brenna Gautam: (TheRealNews.com didn’t produce this one.)
2. Patrick Hiller: video.
Q&A: video.
1:45 p.m. Ending War and Patriarchy:
MC: Brienne Kordis
Speakers:
1. Barbara Wien: video.
2. Kozue Akibayashi: video.
Q&A: video.
2:45 p.m. Remaking the Mass Media for Peace.
MC: David Swanson
Speakers:
1. Sam Husseini: video.
2. Gareth Porter: video.
3. Christopher Simpson: video.
Q&A: video.
4:00 p.m. Capitalism and transition to Peace Economy:
MC: David Hartsough
Speakers:
1. Gar Alperovitz: video.
2. Jodie Evans: video.
Q&A: video.
5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. The Racism of War
MC: Robert Fantina: video.
Includes 26-min film: Crisis in the Congo: video.
Speakers:
1. Maurice Carney: video.
2. Darakshan Raja: video.
3. Bill Fletcher Jr.: video.
Q&A: video.
Saturday, September 24
American University, School of International Studies, Founders Room
9:00 a.m. Ending War: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Introduction: Leah Bolger
Speaker: David Hartsough: video.
9:15 a.m. War Isn’t Working, and It Isn’t Necessary. Why we need complete abolition, even of humanitarian wars.
MC: David Swanson
Speakers:
1. Leah Bolger: video.
2. David Swanson: video.
3. Dennis Kucinich: video.
Q&A: video.
10:15 a.m. Diplomacy, Aid, and Nonviolent Peacekeeping and Protection
MC: Patrick Hiller
Speakers:
1. Kathy Kelly: video.
2. Mel Duncan: video and power point.
3. Craig Murray: video.
Q&A: video.
11:15 a.m. break
11:30 a.m. Disarmament, and Abolishing Nuclear Weapons
MC: Alice Slater
Speakers:
1. Lindsey German and Jeremy Corbyn (by video) — video.
2. Ira Helfand: video.
3. Odile Hugonot Haber: video.
Q&A: video.
12:30 p.m. Closing Bases.
MC: Leah Bolger
Speakers:
1. David Vine: video.
2. Kozue Akibayashi: video.
1:30 p.m. lunch, with remarks on Protecting the Environment from War by Ending War
Introduction: David Swanson
Speaker: Harvey Wasserman: video.
Q&A: video.
Free PDF of Solartopia (PDF) and of Strip and Flip (PDF).
Printed copies available via www.freepress.org and www.solartopia.org at $18 each, which includes shipping.
2:30 p.m. Changing War Culture to Peace Culture.
MC: David Hartsough
Speakers:
1. Michael McPhearson: video.
2. John Dear: video.
3. Maria Santelli: video.
4. Chris Kennedy: video.
Q&A: video.
3:30 p.m. International Law. Can War Makers Be Held Accountable? Can We Achieve Truth and Reconciliation?
MC: Jeff Bachman: video.
Speakers:
1. Maja Groff: video.
2. Michelle Kwak: video.
Q&A: video.
4:30 p.m. Break
4:45 p.m. Demonstrations, Direct Action, Resistance and Counter-Recruitment
MC: Brienne Kordis
Speakers:
1. Medea Benjamin: video.
2. Pat Elder: video.
3. Mark Engler: video.
Q&A: video.
5:45 p.m. Dinner and screening of Peter Kuznick’s and Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States (Dinner provided to registered participants)
MC: Peter Kuznick
6:45-7:30 Peter Kuznick and Gar Alperovitz — Remarks and Q&A: video.
Sunday, September 25
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Nonviolent Action: Getting to Work: video.
American University, School of International Studies, Founders Room
MC: Robert Fantina
Speakers:
1. Miriam Pemberton
2. Mubarak Awad: power point.
3. Bruce Gagnon
Plus 3-minute presentations by leaders of workshops to follow lunch: video.
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. lunch
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Simultaneous Workshops
American University, School of International Service, rooms as indicated below. All these rooms have either a projector or a screen to show powerpoints or other materials from a laptop. Workshops can be moved outdoors at discretion of organizers depending on weather. Room assignments are subject to change based on number of participants in each workshop.
1. Closing Bases. — David Vine. — in SIS Room 113 (seats 32)
2. Bringing United States into the International Criminal Court. — John Washburn. — in SIS Room 300 (seats 25): video.
3. Resistance, Ending the Draft, Countering Recruitment, Creating Free College. — Maria Santelli, Pat Elder, Pat Alviso. — in SIS Room 333 (seats 40)
4. Abolishing Nuclear Weapons. — John Reuwer, Ira Helfand, Lilly Daigle. — in SIS 233 (seats 40)
5. Freeing Palestine / Young People Organizing for Peace. — Raed Jarrar, Alli McCracken, Taylor Piepenhagen. — in SIS Room 120 (seats 56)
6. Improving the Alternative Global Security Strategy. — Patrick Hiller. — in SIS Room 348 (seats 14) and in SIS Room 349 (seats 14)
7. Building Friendship Between the United States and Russia. — Kathy Kelly, Bob Spies, and Jan Hartsough. — in SIS Room 102 (seats 48)
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Planning/Training Session for the Next Day’s Nonviolent Action
American University Kay Center Chapel
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Presentation of 2016 Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence to John Kiriakou, by the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence
American University, Kay Center Chapel
Speakers: Larry Wilkerson, Thomas Drake, Larry Johnson, John Kiriakou, Craig Murray, and Phil Giraldi. Late addition: Ray McGovern.
Details here.
Photo by Linda Lewis
KAY CHAPEL, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
4-5:30 PM
[opening piano music by Tom Dickinson]
4:00 – Welcome to Sam Adams Associates for Integrity Intelligence (SAAII) annual award ceremony by SAAII co-founder Ray McGovern, peace & justice advocate and former CIA Presidential Briefer
4:05 – 4:10 Master of Ceremonies Craig Murray, former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan & 2005 Sam Adams Award recipient
4:10 – 4:15 Thomas Drake, former NSA Senior Executive
4:15 – 4:20 Larry Wilkerson, Col., U.S. Army (ret); Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell
4:20 – 4:25 Larry Johnson, CIA and State Dept. (ret.)
4:25 – 4:30 Philip Giraldi , CIA Operations Officer (ret.)
4:30-4:35 Elizabeth Murray, former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East, National Intelligence Council and former CIA political analyst (ret.)
4:35 to 4:50 Ambassador Craig Murray speech
4:50- 5:05 Joint reading of Sam Adams Award Citation for John Kiriakou by Elizabeth Murray and Coleen Rowley, 2002 Sam Adams Award recipient & former FBI attorney
• [Tom Dickinson piano music] John accepts Sam Adams Citation and Corner-Brightener award
5:10 to 5:20 John Kiriakou acceptance speech
5:20 to 5:25 Ray McGovern acknowledgment and thanks to Busboys and Poets owner and social activist Andy Shallal for generous donation to the Sam Adams Associates
5:25-5:30 Adjournment (Craig Murray)
5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sam Adams Award Reception (hors d’oevres provided)
American University, Kay Center Lounge
Monday, September 26, Morning
Nonviolent Action at Pentagon at 9:00 a.m.: video.
More video from Netra Halperin of PeaceFilms.net: One, Two, Three, Four.
Here’s why. We also delivered to the Pentagon a petition to close Ramstein Air Base in Germany, as U.S. whistleblowers and Germans together delivered it to the German government in Berlin.
This action was one of over 650 nonviolent actions planned around the country this week. See the Campaign Nonviolence Week of Actions. And see World Beyond War’s events page.
*****
This was the announcement of #NoWar2016: As the war system keeps societies in a state of permawar, we have reached a stage in human history at which we can say with confidence that there are better and more effective alternatives. Of course we know the question: “You say you are against war, but what’s the alternative?” This event will develop answers to that question, building on World Beyond War’s publication A Global Security System: An Alternative to War.
Events were held at the same time in Berlin, Germany, where U.S. whistleblowers delivered to the German government a petition from RootsAction.org, World Beyond War, and others urging the closure of Ramstein Airbase (also delivered to the Pentagon on the 26th). Events were also held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. And protests were held in these places:
Sept 26 – West Point U.S. Military Academy: WEST POINT ANTI-WAR PROTEST
Sept 26 – Marysville, CA: Beale Air Force Base Protest
Sept 26-30 – Alice Springs, Australia: Close Pine Gap
Partners of #NoWar2016 Included: Jubitz Family Foundation, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, RootsAction.org, Code Pink, International Peace Bureau, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Jane Addams Peace Association, Veterans For Peace, Delaware Peace Club, United for Peace and Justice,
Co-Sponsors Included: Washington Peace Center, Pace e Bene/Campaign Nonviolence, Liberty Tree Foundation, TheRealNews.com, Nonviolence International, Peace Action Montgomery, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Military Families Speak Out, Peace Action, WILPF-DC, International Movement for a Just World (JUST), Center for Bangladesh Studies, Society for Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University, Nuke Watch, Friends of Franz Jagerstatter, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR), WILPF-DC, International Society for Inter Cultural Study and Research (ISISAR), Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, On Earth Peace, The Virginia Defenders, UNAC, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund/Peace Tax Foundation.
Graphic by Franklin Greenwald.
Here’s what people are saying about our recent #NoWar2016 conference:
“With a country that seems to be engaged in perpetual war, this conference was an important step towards reorienting a peace & justice movement.” — Bill Fletcher Jr, author, columnist, organizer.
“This year’s World Beyond War Conference was an extraordinary gathering of activists, writers, and community organizers — a critical step in building power and the step by step development of an ever more powerful and effective peace movement.” — Gar Alperovitz, author, historian, political economist.
“During the World Beyond War conference, I thought of Howard Zinn’s exhortation following The September 11 attacks on the U.S.
Zinn encouraged people to strive for calm and to be thoughtful, aiming to understand how U.S. warfare has likewise terrified and bereaved people in other lands.
World Beyond War activists convened worthwhile sessions, upheld alternatives to war, issued challenges to all in attendance, and set an example by including nonviolent direct action at the Pentagon in their plans.” — Kathy Kelly, activist, columnist, author.
45 Responses
Disappointed that AirBNB is listed for housing since it offers illegal rentals in Occupied PALESTINE & Hawaii. Boycott AirBNB please. Remove from list.
They’ve been removed.
I swear I do not know what is wrong with Obama. He has scheduled a memorial to the soldiers that fought in the Vietnam War. He said nothing about the 3.4 million Vietnamese that Robert McNamara said were killed. Check the links:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/25/presidential-proclamation-commemoration-50th-anniversary-vietnam-war
https://www.whitehouse.gov/50th-anniversary-vietnam-war
http://www.politico.com/story/2012/05/obama-vietnam-vets-denigrated-076808
John Marciano, a former professor, wrote about it.
https://www.amazon.com/American-War-Vietnam-Crime-Commemoration/dp/158367585X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475003370&sr=1-1&refinements=p_27%3AJohn+Marciano
http://monthlyreview.org/press/the-vietnam-war-was-no-mistake-john-marcianos-book-reviewed-in-the-la-progressive/
http://monthlyreview.org/press/new-the-american-war-in-vietnam-crime-or-commemoration-by-john-marciano/
He suggested working with vets who want full disclosure.
http://vietnamfulldisclosure.org/
https://www.veteransforpeace.org/our-work/vfp-national-projects/vietnam-full-disclosure-campaign/
https://www.laprogressive.com/vietnam-war-crime/
I used to have an Air BnB in Hawaii. Air BnBs help the citizens of an area, NOT the corporate resorts. Boycotting cottage industry will NOT effect public policy—but will only hurt the people trying to survive in exorbitant (Hawaii) or depressed (Palestine) areas.
We’d like to co-sponsor the conference. Please inform us as to how.
Thanks, John Laforge
THANK YOU. WRITE TO info [AT] worldbeyondwar.org
Yay John Laforge! Nukewatch! Hopefull will see you there Sunday and Monday. Thank you for all you do.
Thank you Archbishop Desmond Tutu for this World Beyond War statement as well as many others you have made over decades. Instead of approaching War institutionally as something which regular folks can only lobby from the top down through oligarch-owned-governments, lets act culturally in our ability to include & welcome each-other in our common livelihood, as humanity’s worldwide ‘indigenous’ (Latin ‘self-generating’) ancestors maintained for 100s of 1000s of years.
Focus on people & family takes us where we need to get to. There is a missing ‘FRACTAL’ (‘the-part-contains-the-whole’) in colonial politics & ‘economy’ (Greek ‘oikos’ = ‘home’ + ‘namein’ = ‘care-&-nurture’), which omits individual & family thus leading to the demonize, divide & conquer, for which William Rivers Pitt is in despair. The positive is organizing ‘who-&-where-we-are’, ‘how-&-what-we-have’ with ‘why-we-care-about-each-other’.
INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY 1st Nations here in the Americas & all humanity’s ‘indigenous’ (Latin ‘self-generating’) ancestors worldwide structured human society through 100 person intergenerational female-male Multihome-dwelling-complex (Longhouse/apartment, Pueblo/townhouse & Kanata / village) proximity. Complementary elder-wisdom & youth-energy, female-nurture & male-culture need proximity, intimacy & systems of RECOGNITION for all ‘economic’ contributions. 70% of US & world population live in multihomes, but don’t know or employ neighbour capacities systematically.
MULTIHOME FRACTALS Many extended families gravitate to multihome neighbourhoods for intergenerational & cousin contact, but there is little ‘community’ (Latin ‘com’ = ‘together’ + ‘munus’ = ‘gift-or-service’) planning. Humanity’s indigenous ancestors all employed time-based-human-res-ource-accounting on the string-shells used worldwide to create inclusive welcoming progressive-ownership 100 person economies as the base fractal of neighbourhood, village, city, region, nation, confederacy & continental councils. Each multihome is equivalent even for ‘poor’ folks as a multi-million dollar earning & spending economy or equivalency.
DO-WE-KNOW-WHO-WE-ARE-? Real manifestation is in invisible silent day-to-day building welcoming inclusive community essential services & economies as green entrepreneurs. ‘Do we know who we are?’ is a Community Economy software project reflecting indigenous human resource traditions, developing software for neighbourhoods to create websites with online Human Resource Catalogues HRC, resource-mapping & accounting for exchanges & contributions in Community Investment & Exchange Systems CIES. Do-we-know is inspired by African indigenous tradition. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/structure/9-do-we-know-who-we-are
Since war is the epitome of human folly it would seem as though everyone would be against it. If we look at past wars particularly for the reasons one man kills another, we find at the top of the list, God. Would God condone killing our brother in his name, regardless of which God? Absolutely not. It is not God that provokes man to kill but the church does. Organised religion has been the antithesis of God since its’ inception. It would seem to me then that we need to wake up the Christians and Muslims and particularly the Jews to the flaw in their religious notions. How many Christians profit from war and its’ industry? How many Muslims profit when one of them are finally persuaded to give up their life in an idiotic religious fantasy? War is profitable and that is why it is still popular today to those who are immersed in greed.
I live in Sweden and cannot come to Washington, but I warmly applaud your efforts!
Would you like help planning a similar event in Sweden?
Please contact me about an interview.
The many individuals who choose to kill for a State/Government/Wannabe are what makes wars possible. It is very different to defend one’s self/family/home/business/friends/etc from invaders/attackers; this needs to be done to survive. Invading and attacking others for a State/Gov/Wannabe is making war. Those who do this latter should not be accepted as friends, even if they are family, nor should they be accepted as customers or associates in any voluntary manner. Large numbers of people refusing to tolerate/accept war-makers, the actual “troops”, will lead to Leaders having few if any “troops” with which to carry out wars. Each true peace-seeker needs to do this or will be a hypocrite when s/he says she wants peace.
What do you think on George Friedman of Geopolitics? Would you accept him?
Thanks!
we need to move from competition to cooperation.
peace is present when people can deeply trust that when conflicts occur – and they will!!- that they will be dealt with in cooperative, creative, constructive, compassionate, non-violent ways ways, involving all involved, moving towards outcomes that serve all as best as possible at that given moment. Saskia Kouwenberg
The Globalized world must take the global defense and security responsabilities of peace and the advancement of human rights
Sounds great, but as usual with peace and arms control organizations there is no mention of what individuals are supposed to do. To end war is a political assignment. We have thousands of elections every year and scarcely any are used to convince the general public, capture media attention, or obtain power. Policy follows power and power, unless you are a billionaire, is obtained with the ballot. Conferences like this should at least allow in speakers or workshops to talk about what the individual attendees should do, not what they should be for and against, what they should do. Do, week in and week out, in their cities and towns, to get power.
This is an announcement of a conference (and a nonviolent action), not the conference itself, which will happen in September in Washington 🙂
War is the anti-economy. The purpose of an economy is to produce goods and services. The purpose of war is to destroy goods and services and life itself. Bravo to those who embrace the new abolition movement against war 🙂
High praise to David for the dedication and hard work he performs every day for our great movement to abolish militarism and war from the face of the planet. A tremendous amount of effort went into the making of this conference, getting all these beautiful people together to tell the world the time is NOW to evolve out of the “armed camp mentality” and move into a world beyond war. I am sure it will be a success. My heart-felt thanks to all my brothers and sisters working hard to create a new and peaceful earth.
On August 6, 2016 our non-profit organization–Awakening/art & culture– in Orlando is holding its 5th annual Abolition 2020-Hiroshima/Nagasaki Interfaith Commemoration calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. (Our organization got the City of Orlando to join Mayors for Peace 5 years ago).
We would like to promote your event at our August 6 event in Orlando.
Solution To End All War:
Guarantee the security of all nations on the Planet by Implementing A Global Treaty that simply states that “An attack on Any Country Is An Attack on All Countries”.
All Nations Are Automatically Members of this Global Treaty.
Then we need a Global Initiative to focus the human Race: All Countries work together to build an International Space Station for Settlements of Mars and the Moon,
Construct Three Global Space Stations in the orbits of 1. Earth 2. Uranus 3. Mars
Plan to settle 100 million people in Space, Mars and the Moon. Volunteers Only: 10% of each Race, Gender, Age Group, Ethnicity, Nation’s Population.
To Fund This: Create a Global Online Raffle App: Provide Every Citizen on the Planet An Internet Connect Tablet. Sale $1 Raffle Tickets:
One Ticket is selected from Every Country and the winner receives $1 Million Dollars Equivalent in their nation’s currency.
It takes courage to advance the human race beyond fear and greed and I can’t not name any Major Countries that has leadership with the moral courage to do this. They are corrupt and greedy and serve the interest of the wealth elite and those who profit from war and suffering. They will not stop without something better. Give them a financial interest in the wealth generated from Space Exploration and if they refuse to accept such a deal, give them life liberation. Carrot? or Stick?
by
Charles E. Campbell, Founder & CEO
Allen Hydro Energy Corporation (AHEC)
ahecgreen@live.com
htpp://www.ahecEnergy.com
I can only applaud what you are trying to do! Solutions to this huge challenge already exist and have been tested in the real world many times with great success. It’s just a matter of applying them. I suggest http://fieldparadigm.com/ Good luck to us!
Thank you for all the non-violent efforts, campaigns, personal risks, scholarly research and persuasion you have invested in bringing about an end to wars among the human race.
I can’t help but notice that most of your speakers are social activists, with little background in the productive enterprises of creators, inventors, engineers and scientists, who make possible the physical infrastructure of communities and provide what all individuals need for their quality of life. What do all those activists do to “earn a living”?
I am concerned that your emphasis on “social justice” will wage a war against producers and entrepreneurs. Socialist philosophy ends with forcible (government-run) expropriation of some for the benefit of others. It has never worked and is not the cure for the distorted system of military-industrial collusion that is eating up our world like a cancer.
Everyone wants to live securely and to be happy. You don’t define their desires and needs as greed. Yet those who produce what people want and need, and are rewarded by earnings that make them rich through the voluntary exchange of values between buyers and sellers, are resented, maligned and accused of greed. Yet the only socially just system among people is the free market and free enterprise. There is no such thing as “free money”–it is produced through human intelligence and labor by converting the resources of the earth and sun into useful and needed goods.
I mention this because while ending wars must be our first priority, I notice that waiting behind that goal is a strong socialist node among your coalition of organizations, and I see a replay of Orwell’s “Animal Farm” coming where some are “more equal than others”, and they take the power to decide how to parcel out the wealth, regardless of merit. And such power always ends up abusive and imposed by force, i.e. war against individuals.
Please note that a more equitable set of principles is contained in the Libertarian platform of individual liberty and the inalienable rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Please take care to protect those while ending wars. And cleaning up and preventing further pollution of our planet–pollution is war against our life support system–needs to be high on the list of our coming global cooperation.
Abolishing war is going to take collaboration among all of us who agree on it, and that’s certainly what this conference is aiming for.
Kate Jones, Yes! we need peace sustainable livelihood enterprise. It is not either capitalism or socialism, but both integrated as they were originally meant to be. Know your ‘indigenous’ (Latin ‘self-generating’) heritage. Present-day ‘capitalism’ (Latin ‘cap’ = ‘head’ = ‘wisdom’) is centralized hierarchal command & control, which leaves out the collective intelligence of 99.9% of those stakeholders who produce the values involved. If you consider how the 0.1% forcefully keep the 99.9% disempowered from investing, contributing, deciding-together & implementing their gifts & insights one comes to the correct conclusion that monetary capitalism is more bureaucratic than socialism. I agree socialism is pretty bad as well. However let’s remember that both capitalism & socialism are dysfunctional fragments of violent colonialism. ‘Indigenous’ (Latin ‘self-generating’) cultures integrate both capital-right & social-left wings so that true ecological-economic livelihood for all can truly fly. Its time to recognize & liberate our complementary collective livelihood. ‘Indigenous’ (Latin ‘self-generating’) heritage of governance is Economic Democracy within intergenerational female-mal ‘Kanata’ (Mohawk ‘village’) multihome dwelling-complexes & Production-Societies. 70% of humanity live in ~100 person 32 dwelling-unit multihomes. Ou indigenous ancestors integrated & included the collective domestic economy & empowerment of its contributors equally to commercial & industrial economies. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/relational-economy/8-economic-democracy
Dear Kate Jones,
I am puzzled by your thanks to bringing about an end to war, since no such end has yet occurred. It may seem a trivial point to make. It is a very important point for everyone to realize that an end to wars among the human race is not going to come about through the actions of a few dedicated individuals, or a few non-violent efforts, campaigns, personal risks, scholarly research, and persuasion. It will take all of us who realize the absolute utter futility of war to engage our fellow humans to wake up to the fact that the future depends not on the military might of one society compared to another, rather it is entirely dependent on our ability to communicate and co-operate with one another beginning at the political level all the way through all the levels you mention
ie, creators, inventors, engineers, scientists, right down to the man in the street.
You are wrong about everyone wanting to live securely and to be happy. There are many in this world who do want this for themselves, but not for you. I am going to guess, based on your comments, that you are rich. I also am willing to bet, based on your comment about socialism and Orwell that you harbor a fear that there is a crowd out here in the world that wants to take what you’ve got away from you. I sincerely hope you don’t find yourself in a position of needing those inalienable rights because if you haven’t noticed they are not there anymore. Since I have not heard anything about a “coming global co-operation list” could you elucidate a little for me? Something else puzzles me maybe you could clear up. Since it is we the people, for the people, by the people, doesn’t that mean government run would serve us all with no force needed? We all need to open our eyes, our hearts, our minds, in order to see the plain truth, war is stupid, the single most idiotic activity that any man can engage in. We must stop making excuses and engage our fellow humans in peace if we are to have any future at all. And it better be soon……………………………………………………………….
Renouncing violence does not go far enough.
We need to be able to inspire our enemies to be what we need them to be: people who are willing to negotiate with us to find our mutual survival.
That can’t be done with non-violent oppositional tactics, where one side wins and the other loses based on even non-violent power.
Renouncing war is not enough.
We need to renounce trying to control or manipulate our opponents in any way, and instead invite them into a relationship where nobody is in control, and everybody is free to do damage.
We need each other. We need an alternative to the power game, and that alternative is to inspire each other to higher ground. The only lasting, durable change in our enemy is one they do to themselves.
One of the biggest targets for the Pentagon are our youth and their recruiting budget for influencing young people to join into military services reflects this. The militarizing of our secondary, and now primary schools, has never been so successful and we are loosing our youth to a militaried ethos that is being strategically enacted upon them by increasing programs of the Pentagon inside their education. The peace movement has addressed this issue over the last decades but has not stayed the course in demanding of school districts to limit unrestricted access by military recruiters to school children and providing opportunities for peace veterans, peace churches, and peace activists to present a counter-narrative to that of the Pentagon and their wars. teachers and school counselors are now courted by special retreats to inculcate militarized values in those who should be protecting youth rather than sending them into harms way. This convention would be well served to reflect the urgency of this crisis in its offerings to attendees and better represent the need for expanded and protracted counter-recruitment activism into the long term future of the peace movement. Hopefully, there are others who will take up this call and to increase awareness about a blindspot that has now turned youth culture towards a tacit acceptance of cultural violence as entertainment and adventure rather than resistance and justice for those impacted by war.
Please see the agenda.
Greetings everyone, I hope this is the proper forum for this question. I live in Colorado and I’m planning to attend the Sept. conference in D.C. Is anyone from CO planning to attend the conference? It would be great if I could meet a fellow peace monger to hand out with at conference.
Oops, “hang out”, not “hand out”.
Hello Mike, I’m not from CO, but have been there often, most often for peacebuilding training. I am part of the Peace Alliance National Department of Peacebuilding Committee that will be there. Our work includes being the change we wish to see in the world while we’re advocating for the change we wish to see in our world/government, so you will find fellow peace mongers, to be sure.
WAR DESTROYS SOLUTIONS
War is not inevitable. In actual fact people have to be carefully schooled in hatred and detachment to take a human life (basic training). If only one generation could free themselves from the bondage of hate, perhaps we could lose our obsession with killing as an acceptable solution to solving our problems altogether. But we can all help a bit, by questioning the uncritical worship of the military.
I have been going through the WORLDBEYONDWAR.org web site since it was posted to be approved at https://www.facebook.com/groups/WorldpeaceEmbassy founded July 1st 2016 as a branch of VOICES FOR CHANGE (VFC) founded March 2010. VFC was to generate the NOVEMBER 25 INTERNATIONAL GLOBAL CONSCIOUSNESS DECLARATION/PETITION, a hard copy of which was sent registered surface mail to the UN December 1st, 2011 after the 1st November 25 International Global Consciousness Day Nov 25, 2011 – never responded to by the UN.
*
With due respect for WORLDBEYONDWAR.org which I don’t doubt to be a genuine effort to reach for World Peace, the reader gets bogged down in a maze of organizations within organizations. Going by the scale of the current world population, most people will only be bystanders holding their breath waiting for developments which are going to take an undefined lengthy, possible infinite period to eventuate, given the historic records of similar organizations and conventions marred by institutionalized and individual conditioned and vested financial/religious/political interests objections.
*
The November 25 Project is still current and ongoing.
I am asking the administrators of WORLDBEYONDWAR.org to take time to read up on November 25 through the following links and forward your comments at the WORLD PEACE EMBASSY FACEBOOK open group page.
http://www.worldpeaceembassy.com
http://www.thenovember25project.com
http://www.facebook.com/groups/WorldpeaceEmbassy
Is anyone driving down to the conference on Friday morning from NYC? If so, can you share a ride.
alice slater, 212-744-2005; 646-238-9000 (mobil)
If anyone is coming from Prince Georges County, MD, a ride from Bladensburg would be very helpful—especially as I will be carrying a lot of video equipment. Please call Netra @ (808) 359-1673 Thanks!
I think it’s time we realize that nobody WANTS war. Nobody. But there will always be the greedy and evil so we need to be able to bare arms and protect ourselves. This, I really think, is a great first step- vowing to not take part in war, but being realistic that we might need to protect ourselves too.
I totally support no war- I grew up in Eugene, Oregon and we all here strive for peace and understanding!
Sounds extraordinary, however as normal with peace and arms control associations there is no specify of what people should do. To end war is a political task. We have a great many races each year and hardly any are utilized to persuade the overall population, catch media consideration, or get control. Strategy takes after power and power, unless you are a very rich person, is acquired with the tally. Gatherings like this ought to in any event permit in speakers or workshops to discuss what the individual participants ought to do, not what they ought to be for and against, what they ought to do. Do, week in and week out, in their urban communities and towns, to get control.
Put most simply : Violence in our food system brings violence into our bodies and minds. Wars escalated when humans started intensifyingly confining animals to use their bodies for milk, wool, meat, eggs and fur. Fighting over grazing land and the ownership of animals (the word capitalism comes from capita = cattle)and increasingly scarce resources. Furthermore when we eat the bodies of terrified, tortured, enslaved fellow Earthlings we ingest those toxic emotions and become more disposed to violence. With more than 7 billion people globally the only sustainable way to feed everyone is by eating plants directly, thereby causing massively less pollution, saving huge amounts of increasingly precious water, as well as most crucially removing the death products and death mentality from our psyche.
Lets hope we all succeed in bring peace to this world…for our children’s sake
Hope things get better real soon…
At the end of the day, war only lines the pockets of the large companies that manufacture these weapons that do nothing but destroy our planet. We need to find a way to stop this.